Hello everyone!

The next chapter for you, and more Aqua/Van fluff ;) Enjoy.

IV

One week had passed, then another and then another one. Finally, it had been more than a month but Aqua didn't have any news from Vanitas. The only signs that he was still alive were the dozens of Unversed that appeared in many worlds. Aqua and Ven almost every day traveled between the worlds they're trying to protect, but it seemed like a never-ending struggle.

But the worst were the evenings when Aqua was sitting in her office and was trying to finish her daily tasks. There was so much to do, so many decisions to make, so many things that needed her attention, but she had a very hard time focusing on them. Her thoughts constantly wandered to Van and his well-being. She knew he was strong and clever, but she was afraid that it wasn't enough. One wrong move and Xehanort would kill him without a second thought.

Aqua felt the frozen chill down on her back every time she thought about it. And she felt anger. Burning to the bones anger whose source laid in inaction. She wanted to do something, anything more than sit here and wait.

"You should go to sleep, it is long past midnight." She heard the voice from her left.

Turning around, she saw Ven standing in the doorway. He wore his blue pajamas and was watching her with growing sadness in his eyes. After their visit at the Mysterious Tower, he had stopped his attempts to break her trust in Vanitas. He had understood that he had been wrong about him, even though he still had a problem with saying it aloud. But he knew how painful this situation was for Aqua and was worrying about her more with each passing day.

Seeing his troubled face, Aqua managed to smile a little.

"You are right, it is late, but I have a few more things to do that shouldn't wait."

"But it seems you have not been working for a long while. Sitting here and worrying about him doesn't do you any good. I told you a few times and I will say it again. He is a smartass and a tough guy, so it's not so simple to harm him, and moreover, if something happens to him I will know about it," he added and shrugged. "I don't know how it works but I feel him, even stronger than ever before."

Aqua stood up and came closer to him. She knew that this growing bond between them disturbed Ven more than he wanted to admit.

"I don't know either, but I think it is because now you are connected not only by the heart but also by your connection with me. The more things you have in common, the stronger the bond you have."

"And that worries me the most. I don't want to have anything in common with that freak," replied Ven but the smile softened his words.

Aqua chuckled.

"I'm sure he would say the same."

With these words, she placed a hand on his shoulder, and they exited the office together.

That night Aqua didn't sleep well, the day before she had a hard time with a bunch of Heartless she had met in a jungle-like world. It was so hot and the enemies were everywhere. She barely managed to survive, and even though, she wasn't badly wounded, she was dead tired and every part of her body was sore and stiff.

She laid on her bed without cover and she was watching the ceiling, waiting for sleep. Maybe it was tiredness or simply distraction, but she didn't feel the dark presence that emerged from the corner of the room.

"Boo!" A sudden noise made her jump from the bed. She was a blink away from summoning her Keyblade when she saw Vanitas standing at the opposite side of the bed.

"Van!"

"As a Keyblade Master, you should be more…"

Vanitas didn't have a chance to finish his sentence because she jumped over the bed and embraced him with full strength. The force of her movement almost knocked him off his feet. Surprised, he barely kept his balance and was strongly taken aback by her sudden action.

Maybe she should pay more attention to how stiffly he stood and how uncomfortable he could be feeling at that moment, but to be honest, she didn't care. She had been sick for so long from worry that she had to touch him to be sure he was real, that he was fine.

When she released him a little, she placed her hands on his face, and only then she saw uneasiness painted on his face.

She withdrew her hands and stepped back.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to disturb you. Are you all right?"

She saw his so-familiar smile on his face.

"After your sudden attack or my dance with Xehanort?" he asked playfully.

"Both."

"Next time warn me before you try to strangle me."

Aqua smiled and sat on the bed because she suddenly felt weakness in her legs. She was so tired of waiting and worrying that now relief was almost overwhelming.

"I cannot promise you that."

He sighed theatrically, but afterward, he sat next to her.

"You look awful," he added.

"Thanks, it is so nice to hear a compliment from you after almost two months of your absence."

"It was two months? I didn't count. I hope you didn't waste this time crying after me?"

Aqua forgot how weird their talks could be. There weren't simple questions and answers, and every sentence was a battle of wits.

She snorted.

"That is the reason why I look like shit. I have many battles behind me."

"So you must prepare for more; the battle only began," he added ominously.

Aqua looked at him cautiously and also saw masked tiredness. He would never admit it, but this all pushed him to the limits, maybe not physically but mentally for sure.

"I know, and I'm tougher than you think."

There was something strange in his smile, something unusual, Aqua could swear that he looked like he was glad to see her. Maybe he was a little.

"That's good because you will need all your strength soon. Two days from now be ready to go to Traverse Town. There will be someone waiting for you."

"Who?"

"Your precious Terra."

"Terra…"

Vanitas nodded and smiled mischievously.

"He, with one more from the thirteen, will be there waiting for the Xehanort copy. He won't be happy to see you but take your blokes, and you should convince him to go with you; whether he wants it or not."

One more time she felt the urge to embrace him. He hated Terra, but he risked his safety to come here and deliver this information.

"Thank you. You don't know how much it's meant to me."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm so gregarious. Only don't waste my efforts and take down that guy."

"I will," she promised.

He nodded and made the move as if he wanted to stand up, but she was faster and caught his hand.

"Rest, you are tired."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm tougher than you think," he replied sarcastically.

"You are not as tough as you think," she commented and made him space on the bed.

She saw that he was fighting with himself for a moment.

"Whatever, Xehanort didn't pay me much attention, after all," he said and laid down next to her, with his arms crossed under his head.

"You have four hours," she added playfully, reminding him about the time they had spent together in the Realm of Darkness.

In her room, there was not too much light, either, but it was a completely different kind of darkness. Warm, pleasant, and full of safety.

And when she laid next to him and heard his steady breath, for the first time in so long, she didn't feel this awful anxiety that was building in her chest.

It bothered him a little how easily this woman read him. She saw everything, no matter how much he was trying to hide it. Of course, he was tired, he could sleep forty hours, not just four. He couldn't remember the last time he had rested without a dagger under the pillow. With Xehanort and his minions around, he couldn't allow himself to lose his focus. Too much depended on it. Not only his life; he didn't care too much what happened to him, but more importantly Aqua's life. He couldn't allow the old geezer to lay a hand on her, she belonged to him, and only him, and he wasn't going to allow something happens to her.

It was a new and very strange feeling, the need to protect her, the need to be sure she is all right. Very often he caught himself thinking about what she was doing or where she was at that moment, and more than once, he had to fight the urge to go and check on her.

It was kinda frustrating, this attachment. He never felt something like that before, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. It was unnerving and tiring, making him constantly cautious and wary. Now he knew that his actions, his decisions could affect Aqua and her well-being. It caused an irritating pressure somewhere in his chest, that he couldn't name or erase. It disappeared only once when he laid on Aqua's bed and listened to her calm breath.

At first, he was seriously taken aback by her sudden action. He almost forgot how it felt when she embraced him when she touched him, and her touch burned him the same as in the past. He needed a moment to get accustomed to it one more time.

But now all these unpleasant feelings vanished and the only thing he felt was blissful peace and… happiness? Could he feel happiness? This kind of good happiness, not what you felt when you killed your enemy? He was an evil being, he was not allowed to feel something like this. But what else could he name it? He felt so warm, so soft inside, and he wanted to sleep and never wake up, never go back to the world where this woman wasn't next to him.

Without a second thought, he removed the glove from his right hand and tangled his fingers within Aqua's dark hair. They were a little tangled but still as soft as he remembered. In a blink, she opened her eyes, alarmed by the sudden touch, and looked at him. Her blue eyes glowing in the dark, and still had that specific understanding, so characteristic to her.

She said nothing, neither did he, but after a moment of silence, she linked her hand with his and went back to sleep.

He smiled a little. Certainly, he wasn't the only person here who was strongly attached to someone. And he liked that thought.

Aqua saw him right after he entered the main plaza. She immediately recognized those broad arms, high posture, and his characteristic outfit. Only his hair changed, brown was gone and replaced with white strands.

With Terra, there was another man, with long hair combed in a ponytail, and with an eyepatch on his right eye.

Aqua recognized him as well, she didn't know his name, but she had fought him a long time ago on Keyblade Graveyard. He was one of Xehanort's servants, rude and full of himself just like Vanitas.

The men talked about something, but from her position on the roof, Aqua didn't hear a word. But it didn't matter, whatever they talked about, it didn't change anything.

She looked at Riku and Sora who hid on a nearby roof and at Ven with Lea, who were across the square. They didn't have much time, they needed to act fast and precisely, otherwise, Terra could escape through the Dark Corridor.

It happened in a second; one moment they fought with Terra, and the next, a strange dark creature appeared right behind him.

"Terra!" screamed Ven and tried to strike the Heartless, but Aqua stopped him.

"Don't! Watch!"

She felt it the second this dark being came to the battlefield. It was full of darkness and ominous but she knew that somewhere inside it was Terra, their Terra, not Xehanort's puppet.

The creature held the man with one hand and the second one tried to remove the bandages that tied his mouth.

Finally succeeding, it spoke with difficulty.

"One… day… I will… set… this… right."

"Terra!" shouted Ven.

"One day I will set this right. I will return to this land and protect my friends!"

"Terra! Now!" yelled Sora, and a beam of light left his Keyblade and hit Terra's body.

Everything drowned in light.

After a moment Aqua saw the brown-haired man right in front of her and she knew. They won and Terra was free.