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II

It was so strange that Aqua wasn't sure what to do. The atmosphere in the kitchen was at least tense. Ven didn't say much, but he sat straight and he seemed visibly uncomfortable. Even for a second his cautious eyes didn't leave Vanitas, as if a moment of deconcentration could provoke an attack. And Vanitas didn't make it easier. His face still had this mischievous smile on it, and it seemed the more Ven was nervous the more Vanitas had fun with it. Aqua knew this too well, too many times he had played that game with her. But unlike Ven, Aqua gained some immunity to this behavior, so she didn't feel bothered by it. At some point, she even started to think that it was funny indeed. Seeing how nervous Ven was, when she knew that in reality there wasn't any reason to be afraid. Ven would have to understand so many things.

The last thought made her feel a little uneasy. There was a great difference between Vanitas as her ally, what Ven would accept with time, and Vanitas as her lo…

Even in her mind, she had a problem articulating it; she didn't have doubts about what she felt, but she didn't have any idea how to tell it to the world. She was sure that not only Ven could have a problem with it. For the rest of the world, Vanitas was a mad villain and Aqua had doubts that anyone would see what she had seen in him. She had even more doubts that he would want to show his better side; he rarely showed it even to her. And as she was watching how he was amused with Ven's nervousness, she was seeing it in black colors.

"Calm down," she said finally as she came closer to Ven and placed a plate with soup in front of him.

He looked at her and nodded a little, but more in thanks for the meal than in agreement.

"Yes, Venty, calm down, I don't bite… usually," said Vanitas with so much dark humor in his voice, that it could curdle the cream in a soup.

Ven's frown deepened as he heard Vanitas' mocking. There was a huge difference in their physiognomy; it was almost hard to believe that they had something in common. And it wasn't even about appearances, they didn't look alike, but their behaviors were completely opposite. Vanitas was relaxed and in a good, even though very dark, mood since Ven was extremely nervous, cautious, and very suspicious. If Aqua had to say, Ventus was on edge, and he needed very little to summon his Keyblade and attack. It didn't look good, and Aqua wasn't sure how to solve it.

"How could you defend him?" Ven asked angrily. "Don't you see who he is? He is evil and treacherous, he will stab you in the back the second you turn around."

Aqua sighed, it was harder than she had thought. If she couldn't convince Ven, how she'd manage to talk to Terra in the future, who was much more stubborn? But she had to try, what else was left for her?

"He won't do something like that," she said as she placed the meal in front of Vanitas. Then she looked at him and added: "Right?"

"Of course not. I'm here only to help," he replied so sarcastically that not even a child would believe in his pure intention. He wasn't going to make anything easy.

Aqua sighed one more time and sat on her seat; she lost every appetite. In truth nobody ate anything, they only were watching each other.

"Listen, Ven. I understand that you are suspicious, but we have to manage somewhat in this situation. We have more important things to do than fight each other. We need to find Terra."

Ventus visibly saddened when she mentioned their friend. For the first time, he turned away his eyes from Vanitas and nodded.

"Don't worry, brother, we will find that loser and you will be a loving family again," added Vanitas.

His words of course only enraged Ven more. He jumped to his feet and slapped his hands on the table.

"Shut up! I'm not your brother and you don't have the right to call Terra that! It is you who lose here!"

And after that he left the kitchen, shutting the door.

Aqua stayed silent for a moment and then she stood up, shook her head, threw one sad look at Vanitas, and also walked away.

She needed a couple of minutes to find Ventus. He sat outside on the bench next to the main gate. His face still had signs of previous anger but he had visibly calmed down.

Aqua didn't say anything at first, just sat next to him and watched the landscape around them. She had almost forgotten how beautiful this place was. After so much time that she had been lost in the darkness, these kind, trivial things could escape from her memory.

She took a deep breath and spoke gently.

"When you had fallen into a coma, I was trying to save Terra, but I lost miserably. In my last attempt to fix something, I had used my armor to take him to the Realm of the Light. However, without it, I couldn't travel between worlds, so I was trapped in the darkest place I had ever seen."

Aqua saw out the corner of her eye, that Ven flinched lightly. But he said nothing, so she continued.

"I had stayed there for a long time, a very long time. Without hope, light, or someone to help. I almost drowned in it, almost lost myself to this darkness. But then I met Vanitas. He not only helped me with an escape from that place but also saved me from the darkness. I wouldn't be here without him."

Ventus listened carefully to her but on this one sentence, he shook his head.

"It is so hard to believe that. He is a cruel madman and a sociopath."

"I know, but I also had the opportunity to get to know his better side. It is not so simple to see it, but he has changed, and the fact he came here with me speaks much about it."

She still saw only disbelief on Ventus' face.

"He was with me in the darkest hours, and we first forged a truce, and with time something similar to friendship."

The last words made Ventus smile without humor.

"With this kind of friend you don't need an enemy."

Aqua also smiled a little.

"It's true. I know too well how an insufferable moron he can be sometimes but after everything we went through I couldn't say he is a villain for me. Rather quite the opposite. I…" she stopped suddenly and took the next deep breath. There wasn't a way back, she had to say it, although she knew how Ven would react.

"I love him."

As she had expected, the last statement made Ven jump from the bench.

"What?! Him?!"

She only nodded, suddenly feeling strong pressure in her throat.

"No way! You are joking! Say you are joking!" Ven was watching her with increasing desperation.

"No, I don't. It's true, even if it's hard to believe."

Ven stood there for a long moment, completely dumbfounded. He had a very hard time comprehending what she had said.

"But wait," he began after a moment. "I always thought that you and Terra…"

"Everybody thought that, maybe even Terra himself, but for me, he always was more like a brother."

Ven shook his head and sat back on the bench.

"But why him? From all the men in the world, you had to choose this kind of freak?"

Aqua couldn't stay serious and began to chuckle. Ven's expression at that moment was priceless.

"Perhaps I'm a little freak too."

"I will never believe that," Ven added and for the first time, he also smiled a little. "So, this complicates everything even more."

"Maybe not as much as you think because it seems that the feelings are mutual, of course in some crazy Vanitas way."

Ven only shook his head.

"I never thought he was even capable of feeling something like that. He is pure evil, he repeated that many times, so how is it possible for him to feel something so positive."

Not once, Aqua also thought about it. On the contrary to Ven, Vanitas was the dark part of their nature, so in theory, he shouldn't feel anything good. But during their journey, she had seen many times that he was fully capable of doing and feeling positive things.

"You also can be angry, sometimes you feel sadness or even hate. Maybe you are divided into two opposite parts, but I think it doesn't have to define who you are."

Ven was watching her for a couple of seconds and after that, he looked at his hands and smiled a little.

"Maybe you are right, but…" he stopped for a moment and then said more lightly. "But I don't know how to manage Vanitas as my brother-in-law."

Aqua chuckled and ruffled Ven's hair.

"I don't think you need to worry about it now," she added with a smile.

She didn't say it aloud, but she felt great relief when she told everything to Ven. She was afraid of how he might have reacted and if he would want to understand her. But it was Ven at the end, and he, from all the people, was the last to judge her, even if he didn't fully understand her motivation.

With growing happiness in her heart, she embraced her little brother and placed her chin on the top of his head.

"I'm so happy that you are here with me. Now I'm sure that everything will be good."

"I'm happy too," he repeated with a voice muffled by her clothes.

There was a creepy silence in the kitchen and the plate with soup now seemed to be poisoned. Vanitas completely lost his appetite. He was still seeing Aqua's face when she had left the room. For the first time, he understood that he didn't want to see her that way. It was a quite new, but very disturbing, feeling. He didn't want to make her sad, more, he didn't want to disappoint her, and only this one made him angry. He never paid attention to someone else's feelings, it didn't matter to him at all. But now everything seems to have changed. Now he felt uneasy only because she looked at him with disapproval. It was so stupid and so unfitting to him, that he wanted to laugh, but even more, he wanted to break something.

He stood up abruptly before he could make a mess in the kitchen. He found out that he didn't want to anger Aqua more. It was irritating too.

He walked away from the kitchen and began to wander the countless corridors of the castle. He didn't know this place too well, he had been here only once when Aqua had become a Keyblade Master. She probably even didn't know that he was here that day. Hidden in the shadows, he had observed everything, not showing himself.

Now he also felt like an intruder; he didn't belong here, and he could feel that this place didn't want him within its walls. There was too much light, too much of everything opposite to his nature.

Even more frustrated, he entered a big room, with chairs, three tables, a fireplace, and a few shelves with books. A little mess was here and there, and everything covered a layer of dust. It looked like the room had been abandoned in a rush a long time ago; probably that exactly what had happened.

Before he could sit somewhere, he heard the noise of the opened door. He turned around and saw Ven. His almost-brother stood a few steps away and looked at him with determination painted on his face.

"It's very annoying that I knew where you were before I came here," he said after a moment.

Vanitas crossed his arms and smirked.

"Like it or not, but there is a strong connection between us."

"I truly detested this fact."

"But…" Vanitas added, hearing hesitation in Ven's voice.

"But Aqua seems to… like you, so I will try to live with it... with you. But I want to warn you: if you harm her or anybody else here, I will make you pay for that."

"Big words from a pipsqueak like you."

Vanitas saw as Ven clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"Don't get in my way," he added, and with the finality of these words, he left the room.

Vanitas rolled his eyes and smiled mischievously; maybe there will be more fun than he thought.

The next few days were very quiet and strangely peaceful. Ven and Vanitas were trying not to cross paths and Aqua started to tidy the castle up. There were so many things that needed her attention, many unfinished businesses of Master Eraqus, so many quests to accomplish. And of course, she had to begin to search for Terra, but she didn't have any idea where to start.

Ven traveled between the worlds and was trying to find any information, but for now, his efforts were fruitless. Aqua saw the growing frustration in him, but in the end, she couldn't do much more to help him.

Fortunately, Vanitas quit with his mocking and didn't show himself in the castle. Mainly they saw him at breakfast and after that, he was wandering outside. Aqua knew that a bored Vanitas was a dangerous being, but she didn't have enough time to do something about it.

But on the third day she found him in the late afternoon on the training fields, where he sat on the low, stone wall.

"Maybe you should find something to entertain you," she said as she came closer.

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not so desperate to do one of these deadly boring tasks you do. And you wanted me not to irritate your precious Ven, so it is better when I'm not in his sight. So I'm sitting here and watching the grass grow."

"Maybe I'm wrong," she said as she sat next to him, "but I think it isn't good for you. And you shouldn't avoid Ven, it solves nothing."

"You know as well as me, that I didn't come here for him," Vanitas said and a mischievous smile stretched his lips.

She knew and that thought was still very strange for her, but not unpleasant. So she also smiled a little, raised her hand, and with her fingertips she touched his face. First, he flinched, as if surprised by this gesture, but after a moment he linked his fingers with her, and watching her carefully, came closer.

There was something very disturbing when she kissed him. She felt all the darkness that filled his veins, she almost tasted it. She knew that this part of him wanted to destroy her, but on the other hand, she had to admit that this attracted her the most. It was like playing with fire, that could burn you if you came too close.

But she also felt his hesitation, he was also torn between the need of harming her and the feelings he had for her. She felt it in his sometimes very aggressive and sometimes gentle moves, in his touches, and she saw it in his eyes, still full of disbelief that she allowed him to touch her.

Part of her wanted to erase all the evil in him, but she knew that it was responsible for who he was. Without this darkness, he wouldn't be the Vanitas she knew. She shouldn't destroy it, only tame it, like a wild animal, that was curious but still much distrustful.

Suddenly he stopped, released her, and looked at the main gate in the distance. At the same moment, she felt it too; the two new presences. She also heard the sound of some strange engine.

They stood up and walked to the gate. Aqua saw that Vanitas summoned his Keyblade, but she hoped it wouldn't be necessary.

After a few seconds, she saw a strange, colorful ship and two boys got out of it.

"Hey, Aqua!" said the first of them with a sincere smile on his face.

She recognized him immediately, even though he was much older; but she remembered him and his friend very well. How could she forget the two boys with such strong hearts?

"Sora…"