Hey, guys I'm back and going strong with day six. I can't believe I've been posting for almost a week now it's a new record Lol. Anyway, this story is inspired by two things Lost Hearts' Lullaby by Werregix and a Zootopia comic I can't remember the name of but it's a similar premise to what this story is. It's on YouTube if anyone wants to find it, this is also the first story where Dakota and Ventus are a couple. Can't believe it's been six days and I had yet to post a story that isn't pre-relationship anyway with that said enjoy the story.
Ventus awoke coughing and gasping for air. He looked around, expecting to be underwater but saw he was in his room safe and sound with no signs of the damage that was caused. The boy sighed in relief and laid back down.
"You okay, kiddo? Sounds like you had an intense nightmare." His Chirithy spoke up worriedly,
"How long have I been asleep for?" He asked, facing the little spirit,
"You've been tossing and turning for an hour now. I wanted to wake you up. But I didn't want you to panic." The spirit replied with a guilty look.
"It's fine, Chiri. It was all just a dream, right?" Ven questioned mostly to himself,
"Right, I don't know what you saw, but it's over now. Try and get back to sleep." Chirithy replied and hopped off to his own bed and curled up.
Ventus tried to get back to sleep, but the dream haunted him. It felt so real that he half expected Aqua and Terra to run in and tell him it was real. Finally, the boy reached for his phone and dialed his girlfriend's number.
"Let's hope she's awake." He sighed and pressed call.
Dakota was sound asleep in her room. The recent recon missions Yen Sid was sending them on took a lot of energy out of her, so much she decided to return to her home universe for some much-needed R&R. She was in the middle of a wonderful dream when her phone woke her up.
"Wa, What?" She spoke drowsily, checking her phone, seeing it was Ventus. "Hello, Ven?"
"Hey, Dakota, sorry, I hope this isn't a bad time." He greeted,
"Kind of, do you know what time it is? it's one o'clock." She replied, sitting up in bed,
"I know, sorry, I just had to call you."
"Is something wrong? Is Aqua going through another episode? I'll get the Emergency Panic Attack Kit. Just keep her calm." Dakota instructed, hopping out of bed to her closet.
"No, no, Aqua's fine, no need to come over."
"Then what's wrong? It's not like you to call this early." Dakota said,
"The thing is, I had a nightmare." He reviled,
"Oh, Ven, do you want to talk about it?" The burnet questioned, feeling sympathy for the boy.
"Yeah, that's why I called you."
"Okay, start from the beginning and try to remember as much as you can," Dakota instructed, heading upstairs to grab a glass of water.
"Okay, well, it started as a camp out at Destiny Islands. We just defeated Xehanort, and we wanted to celebrate. You and I were sleeping together when you woke up with a vision of the Foretellers return. So, we went to Yen Sid's to warn him when Nightmare Chirithy showed up telling us, the Darkness inside my heart would consume me."
"And is this connected to the present? Because so far, the events sound like what's going on right now." Dakota wondered,
"I thought so too but, in the dream, Vanitas was inside my heart. Three weeks passed, and he started speaking inside my head. I decided to go to Radiant Garden to speak with Namine and lock the Darkness away. This was when you showed up. Namine invited you over for brunch before I got there."
"That was nice of her, but I don't see how any of this is nightmare worthy."
"Hold on, I'm getting to that part; it gets worse, trust me." Ventus insisted, "So, Namine told us the only way to lock the Darkness away was to seal my memories up to Vanitas's creation. That means I would lose every memory of you, Aqua, and Terra. You should have seen your face. You were heartbroken; I've never seen you that upset before, and I hated seeing you like that. Anyway, I was about to go through with it when Vanitas took control and ran off. Which lead to me making the biggest mistake of my life, asking Maleficent to help tame my Darkness."
"Wow, Ven, that's heavy," Dakota spoke, now understanding why Ven was so distraught.
"Yeah, she sent me to the Dwarf Woodlands to rescue the Evil Queen for a coven she was reuniting. You wouldn't happen to know if Maleficent has ties to witchcraft, would you?"
"Considering her preference towards dark spells, I wouldn't be surprised." She giggled, "So, what happened next."
"You, Aqua, and Terra caught up pretty quickly, and you ended up joining me, so that was a weight off my shoulders. We ended up in a new world called Salem's Lot, an abandoned world that Maleficent used to live in. She wanted to use me to grab the black box. Thankfully, you managed to catch on, and just when you were about to drag me out of there. You got a terrifying vision of Riku getting struck down by Luxu." Ven explained,
"That's terrible, I know this was a dream, but it must have been scary dealing with the aftermath all alone," Dakota commented,
"It kind of was. I never expected Riku, of all people, to be killed that easily. I guess that shows how powerful the Foretellers are. You figured out Riku was with Sora in a sleeping world, so using your powers, we made it to a world called Shibuya."
"Shibuya? That's where Neku and the others live. Lucky, I haven't seen them in years. Oh, sorry you were saying."
"It's fine, most of it wasn't that important, so I'm going to skip ahead. When we returned, we went to Scala to steal the black box and pay Luxu back for killing Riku. He knew we were coming and helped me regain my forgotten memories. Memories that showed I was a completely different person in my youth. I wasn't much better than Vanitas. Maybe even worse, there was so much anger. All I wanted to do was destroy every miserable person in my way, including you. I didn't want to hurt you, but I couldn't fight it. My original personality took over, and I nearly lost you."
"Oh, Ven," Dakota muttered. She felt helpless as she listened in horror at Ven's account. "You didn't battle me, did you? Because that's one of our greatest fears."
"No, thankfully, seeing you heartbroken brought me back to my senses, it made me realize how much I've fallen in love with you, and I couldn't throw that away; I may have been that way in the past, but like dream you said. "My past doesn't define who I am in the present." That stuck with me, and I think I'll use it the next time someone tries to change me."
"I'm glad I was able to help you, Ven. The fact a dream version of me was able to keep you from succumbing to evil shows just how well you know me." Dakota smiled,
"It does, but the final battle was where I woke up. I joined forces with you and the others, fighting both the Foretellers and the witches. Somewhere down the line, you got knocked out, and I sacrificed myself to save you; I remember your screams as you tried to save me from crashing into the water. I felt you grab my hand, and that was when I woke up, with my last thought being how I wouldn't be able to thank you. I don't know how but you saved me again, and I don't think I can ever repay you for it."
"Ventus, the only thing you owe me is your love and affection. I'm just happy you're safe. Do you want me to come over? I'm always happy to spend the night." Dakota offered kindly,
"Nah, it's fine. I feel like I've kept you awake long enough. I'll see you tomorrow. Yen Sid expects us to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for our next mission." Ven smiled,
"Alright, Ven, pleasant dreams. I love you."
"I love you too." He smiled and hung up. Lying back down, Ventus felt a little better confiding in Dakota, but he still felt uneasy and somewhat lonely. Even if it was all a dream, he couldn't help but fear it might be true. He was so lost in thought he barely registered knocking on his window.
Opening the blinds, he saw his girlfriend fluttering outside.
"What are you doing here?" Ventus questioned, smiling brightly,
"I couldn't sleep. I also had this gut feeling that dream brothered you more than you let on. Can I come in?" Dakota replied,
"How can I say no? I'm happy you're here."
"And I'm happy to be here. I don't ever want you feeling uneasy, taking care of you is one of the many reasons I love being with you." She said, climbing inside,
"Same here. I don't ever want to imagine a day without you in it."
"Good, that makes two of us. Now let's get some sleep. We don't want to zone out when someone's talking."
Ventus nodded and cuddled up to his soulmate. "Thank you, Dakota, for everything."
"You're welcome. Ven anything for you." She spoke, but Ventus was already asleep, cuddled up to the calming warmth of his lover's embrace.
And there we have it. By the way the reason the story is a little different then Werregix's is because this is the premise for my story inspired by it, I hope to post it very soon and I've got quite a few chapters ready, but I want to wait for the right time to post it. But stay tuned you might get a sneak peek in the future. Anyway, tomorrows prompt is Secrets this one has a little angst ;)
