I some how managed to get myself to write another long chapter. I am getting better at that i think, but thank you all for reading this so far! I am glad to see you guy are liking it!

Ch.2

Now that the large Shadow had been defeated, they were finally able to move onward. The area they walked through was a bit narrow, but it didn't last long before leading into another open area. There before them they saw even more giant Shadows standing all in the distance.

"Shesh!" Zack exclaimed. "Just how many of these guys are there?"

"Since this is a realm that dwells in darkness, I feel there are many. I have already encountered so many on my journey here," Aqua answered as she summoned her keyblade, looking to see if anywhere near enough to try and attack.

Though one was pretty close, it instead slammed its hand into the ground and created a pool of darkness that had the little Shadows crawl out from. Aqua breathed in as she stepped into a stance to lunge at the creatures.

She tossed a quick glance to Zack, about to ask if he was ready or not, but instead she saw him charging at the creatures. His keyblade already summoned to his hand before he brought down several hits on the monsters.

Aqua smiled before joining him in the fray. While she was taking out the little ones she noticed Zack was stepping back every few seconds and holding out his keyblade. She wondered at first what he was doing, but soon enough she could see a small flame form at the tip of his keyblade. It fired outward and hit one of the little Shadows, knocking it back to the ground.

With Zack starting to get the hang of a basic fire spell, Aqua started feeling a little more relieved. Though she knew she couldn't do it all fully yet. She had been hoping to get Zack to use a cure spell, that being the most important for them to be using. She knew though that it was far trickier than the rest, but she kept hope that within time he would be able to get the hang of it.

It didn't take long for the little Shadows to be cleared out and for them to move on. Heading up further on their path, more showed up though, with the giant ones still looming above them. They plowed as quickly as they could through the next hord of them and once they were done Aqua turned to look and check up on Zack. Before anything was said they quickly moved to a more enclosed area, hopefully out of range of any attacks from the large Shadows.

"Are you good? Any injures?"

"Just a few scratches, nothing too bad at least," Zack replied while stretching his arms slightly.

"Do you think you could try a cure spell?" Aqua said before turning around slightly to glance up to the skies at the larger creatures. She was still feeling a bit wary of them as they only stood there watching with their glowing yellow eyes.

"Maybe, I thought I felt it before but then I started thinking about attacking the little guys and I made a fire spell instead," Zack replied. "Oh! How did I do on that? Was it good for my first magic attempt?"

Aqua nodded, smiling. "Yes, it is a good start, but you have a long way before you can get any more complicated with it."

"Oh boy I know that for sure. I want to be able to do all those quick moves that you do, but I am sure you have had many years to practice."

Another nod came from Aqua. "Yes, but I would like you to try right now for a cure spell. Think about what I explained before with how the thought process goes."

"All right, I will give it a shot."

Zack held the keyblade up over his head and closed his eyes. Aqua watched as the expression in his face smoothed out to something much more calm. He breathed in slowly and then he let it back out. A few moments past where nothing happened and finally Zack lowered his keyblade and sighed.

"I guess I don't have it yet."

Aqua stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder, warranting him to look at her. "You don't have to worry about it. It isn't about getting things right away, but as long as you keep at it, you will get it."

"I know," Zack said, bopping his head in response. "I just want to make sure that I can do these things so I can help out more."

"I understand," Aqua replied. "Your heart is in the right place, it just needs to reach out and find the next steps."

"Thanks Aqua, glad I got you to believe in me," Zack said, smiling broadly.

"You're welcome."

The two of them then moved on, entering into a more caverness like area. But it was not a stone that created the place, but instead wrapped trees. The many old and depcepty trees twisted and bend over one another, forming the narrowed path. There were a few crystals that stuck out, embedded in the trees, giving the only real source of light to follow.

As they were making their way in the long and dark hand of one of the giant Shadows crashed through the trees, hitting the ground just in front of Aqua. She jumped back and instantly cast a reflected barrier around her and Zack. The hand retracted slowly and the monster when back to just stared, though it looked like it could attack again at any given second.

"Hurry, before they all begin to attack," Aqua said while breaking into a light sprint.

They ran side by side until they saw the path grew narrower. The ground shook slightly as they saw the tall Shadows peaking through the open spots in tree cavern. Though Aqua saw that there was one large root that ran through the pathway before them.

Not wasting any time she grabbed into Zack's wrist and pulled him forward. "Hold on tight, we need to move quickly through here."

Zack wasn't even given a chance before Aqua jumped up and created a flow of magic around the both of them. As soon as their feet touched the large root, the magic formed under them and Aqua carefully began to glide along. As she did she could hear a rather surprised and extremely enthusiastic gasp from Zack. No doubt he would ask her countless questions later on how she did that and when he could be taught.

Despite her initial weariness of ever passing on the keyblade to someone, she found herself smiling on the inside now with Zack. He not only was her friend and someone to keep her from creeping into the lonely darkness, but he had such a wonder about everything he didn't know about. She never really had noticed it before, but with a rather quick glance back at him, she could see now how much wonder was in his eyes.

It was warming to see such brightness and hopefully after so long, Aqua already knew that since the moment they ran into each other. It reminded her of the realm of light, and how much was out there waiting to be returned to.

Aqua then performed a quick managed on the root to dodge an oncoming attack from the Shadow nearby and then they were on their way again. While she did she felt Zack's hand adjust to also be holding onto her, making the hold a little more sturdy.

"When we get back to the realm of light I will have to properly train Zack in all that I know. There's only so much that I can do here. It makes me wonder though, what kind of keyblade wielder he will become. Starting his journey in this place I know isn't the greatest, but at least he is doing well so far."

The giant Shadows were starting to try and attack more. Aqua pushed her thoughts out of her head and focused more on trying not to get hit. Thoughts like she was having could be saved for after they were in the clear. Though the attacks were picking up and sooner or later one would attack them at the moment to try and disturb her gliding.

"Zack!" Aqua shouted. "If you can, I need you to hold on closer. I may have to jump soon."

"Oh! If you saw so," Zack replied.

Aqua felt him pull himself closer and then he was holding right onto her. His arms under hers as to not restrict her from using magic or her keyblade. "Uh… I-Is this okay?"

Honestly the closeness was a bit more than she expected, but it was what was needed. She couldn't risk just pulling Zack along just by his wrist. "No, it's fine. Just try and hold on."

Aqua then jumped up while the large darkened hand came plunging in for them. Aqua used a bit more magic to try and make the two of them a bit lighter, just enough to get over the hand and land back on the root. She knew with Zack holding one to her there would be extra weight, but it wasn't anything she couldn't prepare for.

Though she hadn't prepared for Zack to squeeze a little tighter when she made the jump. No doubt started by the action she had just prepared. After they landed she felt his arms relax a bit, all while still keeping a tight enough grip around her.

Eventually they reached the end of the root as well as the tree cavern. Aqua jumped off and landed back on the group and Zack finally let go. Right before their eyes Shadows showed up, not even given them the chance to talk or catch their breaths.

These Shadows were different than the ones they had been facing, well at least for Zack. Aqua already had encountered many different types, but in the end they were still all the same. They were dwellers of darkness trying to bring harm to them, and they needed to be stopped.

As they fought, Aqua started to figure out another thing about Zack that she had never realized before. He was a fast learner. He was already able to move much quicker with the keyblade in hand and began blocking more of the attacks from the Shadows rather than just jumping out of the way.

Once that round of Shadows were gone they proceeded a bit further, knowing that the tall Shadows were still behind them. The two of them began to run up a hill, but only a few feet up it they saw that one of the giant Shadows was blocking the pathway. It kneeled down casting large orbs of darkness into the air which directly flew at the two of them.

Zack grunted as he blocked one of the orbs. "Can't we ever just get a break?"

Even with Zack trying to be positive and optimistic, he did seem to have his moments of annoyances. Aqua could agree with him though, she barely had time to sit and catch her breath since finding herself here. Sometimes, though she hated to admit it, her patience was wearing thin with how much she was able to tolerate these creatures.

Striking the Shadow with a heavy blow it finally faded away into darkness. The path was clear, but still far from safe. As they proceed forward Zack cleared his throat. "Do you think… there is ever going to be an end to this?"

"I'm not too sure. I don't know how long you have been here compared to me, but I have been walking for what feels quite a while… but at the same time… time itself feels different here. I don't know how to properly explain it."

"Hmm, aw well. Either way I hope we can at least just…. Hey wait." Zack said as he started to look around the area they were in.

All around them were high rocky structures, with moss covering over most of it. Even further up ahead they could see more trees, but mainly there were vines. Vines wrapped around or stretching out around the tree, thorns sharply protruding from them.

"What is it?" Aqua asked.

"I had an idea… what if we just rested here, just for a bit?"

"Huh?" Aqua asked, surprised to hear the suggested given. "But… if we rest then the Shadows…"

"We'll take turns. You rest first and I'll guard, then you can guard and I'll take a rest."

Aqua frowned slightly. It wasn't that she was against the idea of resting. It was quite the opposite. She did desperately wish to sit down and relax herself, but she had chosen to constantly be on her feet. She had to keep going and keep on looking for answers and a way out.

Looking around, father up the path she saw more glowing illusions of Ventus and Terra. Aqua quickly rubbed her eyes and they were gone in the next moment. Sighing heavily she brought her gaze to the ground, contemplating the circumstances.

Now this time there was a hand on her shoulder. "Aqua…" Zack started, speaking in a soft voice. "You really look like you need to rest. You look tired."

Aqua stared at him, trying to listen to his words. She knew he meant well and that he only wanted to do what he thought was best, but she still feel so unsure. To take a rest in the place full of darkness… to try and relax knowing more Shadows could come up at any moment. It just didn't feel right to her to do so.

"Ah…" Zack faltered slightly. "I don't mean anything by saying that you are tired! I mean like… I don't mean it as it's like obvious or anything. Not like it's bad to look tired or that it makes you look different. Ah! I mean you still look great and all but…" Zack trailed off before chuckling nervously.

Aqua chuckled softly. Her mood started to brighten up a bit. "Thank you Zack. I know you are only trying your best here. I'm just worried about staying put for too long… more Shadows will find us sooner or later whether or not we stay or keep moving."

"How about just five minutes then? Just take five minutes to sit down and breath?" Zack asked in a suggesting tone.

"Five minutes…" Aqua repeated before mulling it over. SHe looked at Zack once more and saw his expression. His face read of worry and concern, but also genuine honesty and care. Aqua smiled once more after a few moments. "All right, five minutes it is."

"Good. Just sit and relax, and I'll bash any Shadows that try to ruin our relaxing time, 'kay?"

Aqua nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Are you sure you will be able to handle it though?"

"Trust me I got this!" Zack exclaimed before holding out the keyblade. "I'm getting better each I use this."

"Okay, if you say so, but do let me know if you need me. If anything does happen I mean."

"Of course, just get a little rest. I'll start timing once you sit. That's how it has to be."

With another chuckle, Aqua dismissed her keyblade and sat down on the ground. It only took her a few seconds before she was laying down on her back. She breathed out slowly and was rather glad Zack had suggested this idea.

It felt so foriegn or like a long forgotten memory. To just stop and rest, how strange it felt to her. She breathed in another deep breath and her entire body seemed to lighten up. Every muscle finally stopped fighting to be tense and gave away to a tranquil lose feeling. Though not ever knot undid itself, it was enough to bring a cool and calming sense into Aqua's mind.

She closed her eyes, and trying to visuzle things to clear with this entire relaxation session. She tried to visualize things that were not from the darkness realm but instead from the realm of light. Though initially she wanted to think of home, she choose not to due to the circumstances that last happened there.

Instead she thought about her friends. Every friend she made along the journey to other worlds, but also her most treasured friends. Memories of hanging out with Terra and Ventus came dancing into her mind. With the pleasant thoughts taking over, she felt herself smiling again and actually keeping it for more than a second.

Though she was mainly thinking of Terra and Ventus, someone else started to show up more. Her mind was drifting and now she was thinking of another. It was none other than the boy with spiky black hair and fair blue eyes; Zack. The one true and real person she had come across so far, and also the last person she ever expected to see again, let alone where they even were.

She still barely knew anything about him, other that he reminded her of Ventus but with far more energy. She only knew of his passion to be a hero and also his highly infectious optimism and peppy attitude.

"If this is ever over… no… when this is all over. I will have to take the time to get to know Zack some more. He still is a rather mysterious boy now that I think about it. But… he does have such a good heart. The energy that radiates from him, it's rather reassuring."

A few moments later her eyes fluttered open. She had no idea how much time had passed, and now she had only considered that Zack didn't either. Unless he was decided to count five minutes, she wasn't sure how else he would know.

Now that her eyes were open she saw Zack standing beside her, his keyblade still in hand. He was facing away from her, but a second later he turned his head back to look. "Oh, you've awake. Has it already been five minutes?"

"Weren't you supposed to be keeping track of the time?" Aqua asked inquisitively.

"Heh, I kind of realized that I had no real way to keep track,' Zack replied sheepishly. "But I know not too much time has passed at least!"

"That's good to hear," Aqua replied before sitting up. "Now we can switch and you can get the rest you need."

"All right!" Zack cheered before flopping rather dramatically to the ground. He stretched for a few seconds before his entire body relaxed and he placed an arm over his eyes. "I'll just take a quick power snooze. That oughta get my energy back up."

"You mean you're low on energy?" Aqua asked, trying her best not to laugh. "It seemed like you've been doing pretty good so far."

"Well I'm running low! All this running around expended a lot more than I would have thought." Zack replied. "I still gotta lot left, but I need to recover more of it."

Aqua stood up, still with the smile set on her face. "If you say so." She summoned her keyblade and began to examine the environment.

It still was quiet, but that didn't mean she could let her guard down. The creatures of darkness could in fact show back up at any minute… they only seemed to be quiet now… for whatever reason. But either way, Aqua felt more ready than ever now to take them on if they appeared. She made sure not to keep her gaze turned for too long though, just in case the creature decided to sneak up from behind.

When she looked back she saw that Zack was in fact completely passed out. His breathing was steady and slow and his face, that wasn't hidden under his arm, was still and calm. It was certain that he was completely asleep at this point.

She would have thought it was impressive, if she had not seen Terra and Ventus do the same in years past. Maybe all energetic boys were like this. They could easily be bouncing around one minute, but then passed out in a deep sleep the next.

She waited as carefully and quietly as she could, deciding to do some more deep breathing while she waited. With no creatures deciding to show up, there was not much else she could do. Though she still had the feeling they were out there, still waiting for them.

When it felt like five minutes had passed she knelt next to Zack and gently shook his elbow. Though if he was anything like Terra or Ventus when it came to waking up, she was going to have to try harder. He did groan slightly, but showed no real sign of stirring to wake up.

Aqua sighed a little, knowing she should have expected that. She tried a little harder to shake him, hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to more serious methods to wake him up.

Thankfully he stirred a bit more this time and rolled onto his side. He mumbled something that was too soft and jumbled to understand, but Aqua could guess what he was trying to say. "No Zack, you gotta wake up now. We need to keep moving now."

"But… so comfortable…" Zack mumbled, actually much more coherent this time.

"Comfortable? The cold hard ground is really that comfortable?" Aqua asked, in hopes that talking to him enough would get him to finally wake.

"Just relaxing… Just wanna stay relaxing…"

Aqua frowned, seeing that she was going to have to try a little harder. This time she grabbed onto his shoulder and shoved a little, causing him to roll over onto his stomach. Quickly his eyes flew open and he looked around. "Ah! Aqua! Ah… how long was I out for?"

"Thankfully not too long."

Zack chuckled before going to rub the back of his neck. "I guess I should have told you I am a pretty heavy sleeper."

"It was nothing I couldn't handle. Terra and Ventus they are…" Aqua hesitated for a moment. She still did not know the fate of Ventus or Terra. She knew she had left Ventus to rest, but even then what happened after that? And for Terra… what happened after she sent him back to the realm of light? She still had no idea for either of them, and it still worried her greatly.

"Aqua? You okay?" Zack asked, leaning in closer to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I only got lost in my thoughts. You just remind me a lot of when it came to trying to wake up Terra or Ventus. That is all."

"I get it. Sorry if I made you think about them, I know you are still worried about them."

"It's nothing to be sorry for," Aqua replied softly, but she couldn't find what else to say.

"Well, let's get back to finding a way out of here," Zack said before jumping to his feet. "We still gotta go and find them together, right?"

"Right."

The two pressed on, both feeling rather refreshed after their short break. The path was still long and most likely filled with Shadows, but they felt more ready than before to take them on. Then just as they expected, there more than shows up. Some pooling from darkness in the ground, others flying in from over head.

Eventually there was an eerie reddish orange light that was up ahead. The two picked up pace and slashed through the creatures coming at them. But when they got out there to see what it was, they both came to a dead halt.

Before them were hundreds of the tall Shadows, so many that they didn't even bother to count. Then up above them in the sky was a giant orb, radiant with powerful energy. Aqua felt Zack moved closer to her side, his eyes fixed on the monsters before them.

"Uh… Aqua?" he asked, his voice quiet unlike how he usually was.

"Yes?"

"Are we really… you know, going to have to…"

Aqua had never heard such a nervous tone from him. It was odd to hear him have a small bit of doubt, but under the circumstances she could understand why. It was truly a scary sight and it only seemed to be getting worse. All of the tall Shadows released their own orbs of energy up into the large one in the sky, making it grow bigger. Aqua could tell that it was only going to be trouble the longer they waited.

"Zack," Aqua said, speaking as strongly as she could. "We have to. We don't have to fight them all, but we at least need to make a run for it. Stick close, okay?"

"Right. Let's do it."

Together they ran, dodging each raining orb of darkness that came down from the sky. They kept along the pathway, seeing that nearly all of the tall Shadows were standing along the side. But then they came across one that was in fact blocking the way.

"Together. Take out this one," Aqua instructed before casting a series of blizzards spells out at it.

Zack nodded and jumped up into the air to strike at the creatures head. Together they worked as quickly as they could to take it down. It proved to be harder though, with the countless ones standing around them sending in darkness attacks and fueling the orb in the sky. But the two of them never once stopped or anything else. They kept at it until the monster was destroyed.

Strangely enough, after that all of the other in the area began to dissolve into the giant orb. Aqua wasn't too sure what connected it to the one that they took out, but it had triggered something at least. All of the creatures were being pulled into that giant orb, and it was starting to pick up a heavy wind.

Aqua cast a barrier around her and Zack, not knowing if it would really help, but she knew she had to try something at least. The two braced themselves as they wind picked up, but then the orb raised into the sky and exploded. The flash from that was enough to have Aqua cover her eyes, and when she opened them, everything was back to normal. Well… as normal as the darkened realm could get.

There was no orb in the sky anymore, and all of the tall Shadows were gone. Aqua sighed as she dismissed raised her keyblade up to cast a cure. That last battle had been awfully tough and she knew that neither her or Zack got out without a scratch.

"Hold on Aqua," Zack said. "Let me try this time."

"Are you sure?" Aqua said as she lowered the keyblade to her side.

"I am always ready to try again, besides I think that battle knocked us around the most," Zack replied before holding up his keyblade. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes just like before, but this time something did happen. A small green glow formed from the tip and fell over Zack, healing up his cuts and bruises.

When he opened his eyes he saw that Aqua still had not been healed. He looked down at himself and then at Aqua. "Huh? How come it didn't heal you?"

"That's because you only have learned the basic cure. There are higher levels to it and the higher ones are able to cure more than one person at a time."

"Ooh," Zack said, taking in the information. "So if I can only heal one person at a time right now… I should do… this?" Zack now held the keyblade over Aqua. He concentrated again and the cure formed, this time covered Aqua and healing her up. "Like that?"

"Just like that. Good job. You really are getting the hang of it."

Zack smiled broadly. "Of course I am! Plus you are teaching me really well!"

"Am I? Aqua asked, still doubting her ability in having to teach another. Though it was true that Zack was learning quickly, she only thought that was because he could adapted fairly easily.

"Totally! I had no idea magic could be that complex. It only makes me more excited to practice ti more!'

"Well don't over do it, running out of magic can be quite draining. And then having to wait for the energy to replenish can always be daunting if you are impatient."

Zack scoffed dramatically. "What? Impatient? Me? I don't know what you're talking about. But… since you brought it up… how long does it take to replenish magic if you use it all up in a session?"

Aqua laughed once more. She was beginning to find herself doing these actions more and more now that Zack was here. It was a good thing though. She had spent far too much time alone without a soul to talk to. Having him here and smiling and laughing with him truly something nice that she realized she desperately needed.

She knew that she kept repeating herself on these thoughts, being happy to have someone here but still not happy for the fact that they were both in this realm. It was something that kept playing over and over in his mind. She hated to see poor Zack trapped here like her, but she wouldn't want to be alone. She was tired of being alone.

Though there were still things that bothered her that only were for her to see. Like the phantoms. She turned and saw them up ahead on the pathway again. Sighing she stared long and hard at them, wondering if it really meant anything or if she was just slowly going crazy.

"Aqua? What are you looking at?" Zack asked as he looked in the same direction as her.

"Nothing… I mean… just more illusions," Aqua breathed out.

"So you think we should head that way? I mean it is the only real place that we can go from here."

"Yeah, let's see whether or not it really means anything," Aqua said before pressing forward with Zack right by her side.

So now the big question, does Zack also see the Terra and Ventus up ahead in the pathway? Hmmm let me know your thoughts!