Aqua walked toward her former training grounds, accompanied by Sora, Donald, and Goofy. The terrain was uneven, and the sky was filled with dark, heavy clouds.
She had only just returned from the realm of darkness, however, and Goofy was worried about her. "You sure about this, Aqua?" he asked as Castle Oblivion loomed before them.
"If you want, we can take you back to Master Yen Sid's tower to rest with Riku and the king?" Sora suggested, with Donald nodding his approval.
But Aqua only shook her head and smiled as she kept walking. "Thank you. But…Ven's expecting me. I promised to wake him. Said I'd be right back, but I'm not even close. I'm in for an earful."
She came to a stop before the imposing castle.
This was once the Land of Departure, where she and her friends had once trained, but it was unrecognizable now. It had existed as Castle Oblivion ever since the day Aqua had sealed off the land in order to keep Ventus safe.
Aqua took a deep breath, summoned her Keyblade, and pointed it at the gates of the castle.
A large Keyhole appeared, and when the light from her Keyblade reached it, they were struck by what felt like a powerful gust of wind. There was a large boom, followed by the sound of a door opening.
The entire structure of Castle Oblivion began to reorganize itself until it looked entirely different, and even the clouds dispersed to reveal a clear blue sky. Before long, the castle was the home she knew again.
"Ready?" Aqua asked, and they headed inside.
The place was just as she remembered it, but Aqua hurried through it without even stopping to take it all in. She eventually reached a large entryway, which revealed Ventus seated on a throne in the back of the hall.
"Ven." Aqua ran to her friend and took him in her arms. "I'm sorry it took so long."
Ventus showed no indication of waking up, though.
Aqua took him by the shoulders and shook him. "Ven, wake up. Open your eyes, please! Why? Your heart never found its way home?"
But the answer came from a voice none of them had expected to hear here. "That was a neat trick. No wonder no one could find him."
Everyone spun around in surprise, ready for a fight.
"Vanitas!" Sora shouted.
Aqua stood upright and placed herself in front of Ventus protectively. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting your touching reunion, but surely you won't begrudge me a moment with my brother?"
Who the heck IS this guy? And what's the deal between him and Ventus?
Sora, Donald, and Goofy charged at Vanitas with weapons in hand, but he lithely spun around them and perched himself on the back of the throne where Ventus slept.
"So Venty-Wenty wants to keep sleeping. What am I ever going to do with you?" he said, a touch of humor in his voice.
"Shut up!"
Aqua sprang into the air and swung her Keyblade down at Vanitas. But he simply blocked the blow with his own Keyblade, not even bothering to stand up.
"You better settle down there, 'Master.'" Vanitas shoved Aqua back, then leaped after her as she flew through the air. They both landed in the center of the hall at almost the same time.
"Aqua, I'll handle him!" said Sora.
"No," she replied over her shoulder. Her voice was firm. "I'm ending this."
"But...you haven't recovered yet."
"Sorry, but you've seen me too weak, too often. Now it's my turn to shine," she answered with a smile,
"Aqua!" Sora shouted.
Shutting out their concern, Aqua charged at Vanitas and struck. He swatted away her Keyblade and knocked her back, but Aqua didn't miss a step as she quickly threw herself back on the offense. When Vanitas tried magic against her, Aqua responded in kind.
Their Keyblades clashed together, flew apart, and then came together again, over and over. Eventually, a particularly fierce blow from Aqua struck home, leaving Vanitas incapacitated and his helmet full of cracks.
The breath caught in Sora's throat as he saw Vanitas's face. "Your face...!"
Vanitas laughed softly. "I'm the piece of Ventus that was taken away," he said. "And you're the piece Ventus needed to be whole again. So...why shouldn't you and I look exactly the same?"
"But that's..."
Impossible, he wanted to say. But there was a ring of truth to Vanitas's words. The near-mirror image of Sora's face behind Vanitas's mask was evidence enough of that.
"Yeah, that was my light. But my heart is fractured. And now...the little I have left is slipping away."
"Then you should join your heart with mine."
"Ventus's heart was incomplete until it joined with yours," explained Vanitas.
"You and Sora are connected. And...in order for Sora to become completely whole again... He needs you."
"Me? What for?"
"You hold half of what he is. He needs you, Roxas."
"Just like yours was once incomplete without his. You define me, Sora, the same way that Ventus does."
Sora gritted his teeth. "Then why don't you stand by our side? Instead of with darkness?"
"Because I am darkness. And I do stand by your side. I'm the shadow that you cast. How much closer could I be?" Vanitas said with a smile. "The stronger the light, the blacker its shadow becomes. Don't you see, Sora? You're the reason why Ventus can't wake up."
Sora remembered what Vanitas told him in Monstropolis:
"Oh, you wouldn't remember. Before you were born...you formed a special bond, with a boy named Ventus who joined your heart."
"How could I be the reason? His heart merged with mine so he could be whole again!"
Vanitas pointed his finger at Sora accusingly. "The powerful light in your heart overshadows Ventus's heart, erasing him from existence. Your heart is a prison."
"That's enough!" Aqua took the opportunity to charge at Vanitas once more.
The fight continued.
How long would this go on? Fatigue was taking its toll on them both. Aqua realized that she'd have to do something. She turned to face Ventus again, erecting a barrier around herself and Ven. Vanitas wouldn't be able to harm them, but Sora and the others couldn't reach them, either.
"Aqua!" Sora shouted.
"It'll be all right."
Aqua used her Keyblade to summon a portal next to Ventus, then she slumped onto the ground. She was in a deep sleep.
"She's using the power of waking," Sora said.
Aqua stood on Sora's blue Station of Awakening.
Everything was making sense now. Why Ven's heart never returned. Why Vanitas looked like Sora.
"Ven's heart is asleep in Sora's heart."
As if reacting to her presence, a man appeared out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Aqua whirled around. A man in a black cloak appeared there, striding toward her.
Light gathered at the man's hand, and what took shape there was…
"A Keyblade?!"
There was a hint of yellow eyes underneath his hood.
"Why are you trying to stop me?"
"Because I want back the rest of Sora's memories."
"Sora, Sora, Sora! Enough about Sora!"
"Sora," the cloaked boy said with palpable contempt.
That was definitely Ven's voice.
"You can't be...?!"
Ventus did not seem to recognize her. In fact, he seemed to be just as corrupted by the darkness as she had once been.
The clang of metal against metal rang out over and over, until the boy's hood flew off.
Now it was plain to see. It was Ventus, for sure. But he had glowing yellow eyes. He held the Oblivion in one hand. Then he summoned a second Keyblade, Oathkeeper, in his other hand.
He looked down at Station of Awakening. The picture there was not one of him, but of Sora.
"Always stuck in his shadow."
"What do you mean?"
Instead of a response, he looked up at her. His eyes looked empty and hollow.
"Don't you remember me?"
"Should I?"
"Of course! You're my friend!"
See where I'm going with this? You can break the little hearts they don't have, and forget right away. No hurt feelings, no baggage. You don't have a heart. It's one-hundred-percent guilt-free.
"Sorry. Can't have friends without a heart."
His voice was flat and cold. Aqua had never heard Ven speak this way before.
I'd ask if you enjoyed the trip, but we both know you've forgotten. Bet you're feeling pretty empty.
"I don't remember a thing about you. You're a total stranger."
Hey, no big deal. The fact that you can't remember them just means they weren't very important to you to begin with. Isn't that right?
"You must not have been very important to me," he said coldly. "Sorry."
Aqua could feel it. His chest—his heart—ached with loneliness. She stared at the star-shaped keychain dangling from one of his Keyblades.
"Think harder. I know you remember me."
The sadness of knowing you forgot someone who matters to you, something like that'll gnaw at you forever.
"No! I don't!"
You'll have no one to miss. No cause for loneliness. No hurt to keep eating away at your heart.
"I don't remember you!"
Ventus was right in front of her with a Keyblade in each hand. In the span of an instant, he closed the gap between them and attacked Aqua with both of them. He landed a solid blow that knocked Aqua away.
"I don't care about you at all! You're nothing but a stranger! And now you can feel the same hurt that I do!"
But Aqua deflected his attack and looked him straight in the eye. "I already do. And that's why I'm here."
The boy flinched.
"Don't run from it," Aqua said sternly. "Face your fear. I'm right here by your side."
"I am NOT afraid!"
But was that true? Fear... What was he so afraid of?
"I mean, when I think of losing you and Xion, or my memories of you…to forget what it's like to be with my friends... It is scary."
"Fear's an emotion. It doesn't exist for us."
"But...I am feeling it. I'm scared right now."
Aqua could feel his pain. All of it. "Do you remember your true name?"
The boy looked away sadly. My true name is...Roxas. Or is it Sora? No, it doesn't really matter.
"You make a good other."
"I was never supposed to exist. I'm Nobody. Just Sora's shadow."
"That's not true!" Aqua stated emphatically.
"It's just, I think—I've been running away from the question I really wanna ask: What's gonna happen to me now? Just tell me that. Nothing else really matters anymore."
But the boy in black had no response.
Aqua knelt down next to him. "I know that you've been a part of Sora for a long, long time." She put her hand on his face. "But you're not Sora."
"Tell me." He looked up at her pleadingly. "Who am I, really?"
"You're Ventus."
That name seemed somewhat familiar. The boy nodded.
"I came here to keep my promise. Ventus, it's time for you to wake up."
He stared at Aqua for a moment, then closes his eyes. A smile could be seen on his face as he disappeared.
Aqua jumped up and pointed her Keyblade down. A keyhole appeared on the stained glass. A Sleeping Keyhole. The light it gave off fluttered away like birds, flying free to go wherever the wind took them.
The glass with Sora then transformed into green one.
Aqua pointed her Keyblade now at the heart area on Ventus's station.
His heart floated up and away. It was now separated from Sora's and back in its rightful vessel.
Vanitas shook off his weariness and cast another spell—but this time, he aimed for Ventus.
The barrier finally cracked.
Vanitas fired off another round of magic, but it was no use. The barrier was simply too strong. He needed to find another approach.
As Aqua lay on the ground, Vanitas walked slowly to her and stood over her.
It was so similar to that time...
"Aqua!" Sora yelled—
A blinding light enveloped Ventus and the throne he sat on—and in the blink of an eye, that light had pierced the barrier.
The light was Ventus, awake at long last.
"Aqua!"
Ventus and Vanitas clashed together, and the barrier shattered and fell to pieces.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy hurried over to protect Aqua, while Vanitas leaped away to safety.
"Three guardians are more than I care to face," he spat. "But now that Brother is awake…I'm just certain he'll come to visit." He opened a path to the Corridors of Darkness behind himself and made his escape.
Ventus helped Aqua to her feet.
"Aqua, are you all right?" Sora asked worriedly as he walked over.
"Yes. I'm fine, Sora," she replied with a smile.
"Sora..."
Beside her, Ventus was eyeing Sora with some bemusement—why did he look so much like Vanitas? "You're...Sora."
"Yup. Hey, Ventus." Sora held out his right hand.
"I get it," Ventus said softly. "You were my second chance."
"Huh?"
But instead of explaining further, Ventus just reached out and shook hands with Sora. "Call me Ven."
Sora nodded.
Once they had finished shaking hands, Aqua reached out and gently placed her own hand on Ventus's head. "Good morning, Ven."
"Good morning, Aqua."
Ventus returned her smile.
It was a moment of joyful relief for everyone—and now the true battle could begin.