I know it has been a whils but oh man I finally did it and got through this chapter!

Ch.6

Within the darkness the land seemed quiet. There was a light breeze that moved the waves of the dark shores, but other than that there was nothing. All was quiet, even the Heartless that dwelled in the darkest shadows. Though within the shadows cast on the darkened land, faint whispers could be heard.

"There's nothing else for us."

"But we still have each other."

"No one else. Just you and me now."

"The rest have but left us here. They forgot about us."

"Forget them."

"Right."

"We were abandoned but now we are stronger."

"Yes."

"But what if someone comes?"

"They won't."

"But if it happened?"

"Then we express to them the pain we feel. The pain caused by them."

"Right."

It was Riku and Mickey's second time back into the Realm of the Darkness. This time they were ready to take on the tough Heartless that would no doubt try to attack them. That was what ended up happening with a Demon Tide, most likely being the same one that had attacked them the first time that they entered the realm.

Yet… despite having new keyblades, the Demon Tower still was proving to be a challenge for just the two of them. Riku had been knocked once again to the ground, and Mickey was swept up by the tower of Heartless.

His keyblade was flung from his hand and crashed down to the cold sand grounds. Riku called out to Mickey, trying to find him in the mass of Heartless, but slowly the mass was shifting… changing.

The Heartless disappeared and now a dark orb floated above the ground. It glowed and soon a purple color seeped into the orb and in the blink of an eye someone jumped out of it, draped in darkness. Their form was undisguisable, but they stood up tall and presumably on two legs.

Mickey, whose head was now sticking out of the orb, stared as the form started to walk forward. It walked to the keyblade that was still on the ground, the darkness flickering off its body like flames.

"This keyblade…"

Mickey gasped. "Is it her?"

The darkness seemed to grow, but after that moment it started to fade away. Riku and Mickey watched the darkness leave as it revealed the human form underneath. Her back was to the two of them, but already there was something off about how she looked. Her hair was blue but seemed faded and getting closer to more of a white color. Her outfit on the other and was darkened, with purple darkness even crawling up her arms and legs.

"Mickey…" she muttered as she began to turn around. "You're too late."

When she did turn around all the way, they could see her eyes were a bright golden, filled with anger and annoyance.

"Aqua?" Riku asked, trying to make sense of it.

"What happened?" Mickey asked, looking hurt over the sight of his friend. "And where's your friend?"

Aqua scowled at them. "You abandoned us, that's what." She flicked the keyblade back a bit, changing her stance. "Left us in this shadow prison for more than a decade, knowing what it would do to us."

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault," Mickey replied, his voice heavy with sorrow.

Letting out a huff of air, Aqua turned and walked closer to the shores. "We reached this shore after endless wandering. Waited forever for help to arrive. But no one ever came. We only had each other, no one else. I lost my keyblade. Had no means of fighting my way back through the Heartless, and I was not about to force Zack into such things yet. You should have known we were stranded. Do you have any idea how lonely it is here? How frightening it is to have no one? Zack and I had each other, but it still wasn't enough to prevent the darkness from pouring into our hearts. All that is left in our hearts are misery and despair… and now, you can share it!"

Aqua was now standing out on the water, glaring at Mickey waiting to see what would happen. Though Riku was the one able to move forward since Mickey was still trapped. He made it to the water's edge before coming to a stop. "There's no need. Got my own."

After a moment, he summoned his keyblade, and then proceeded to walk further towards the water. When he got there he breathed in deeply and began to walk on the water's surface. As he was getting closer, the dark orb containing Mickey moved out in front of him and then was consumed by another Demon Tower.

Aqua had vanished from sight, leaving only the Heartless to be dealt with. It was still a hard task to go up against, but within enough time Sora had shown up to help Riku out. Together they were able to destroy the tower, sending Mickey flying off to the shore.

Now with the Heartless dealt with, Riku broke into a sprint to try and get to him. What he didn't expect was for Aqua to fly right at him and attack, though Sora was still quick to come to his defense.

But now it was Sora's turn to fight, and Riku could only hope that he was able to hold out against Aqua. It seemed like he was doing fine at first, gaining the upper hand fairly soon. But in the corner of his eye he noticed something else in the darkness around then. Riku stood up and watched the shadows carefully. Something was in fact creeping along in the darkness, moving in on the fight between Sora and Aqua.

Although Riku wanted to stay by Mickey's side to make sure he recovered, he was not about to let Sora get hurt. Running back out to the water, Riku summoned his keyblade. He thought to call out to Sora, to warn him, but that he knew could distract Sora from Aqua.

Creating a barrier spell, Riku made to Sora, who had just deflected an attack from Aqua. "Riku what are you-"

A keyblade clashed against Riku's.

Now both boys were staring at who was on the other side. He looked to be a boy about their age, or maybe a year or so older. Like Aqua, his hair was turning white, though they could see that the natural color was originally black. Also like Aqua, his outfit was darkened, with the same kind of purple climbing up his arms.

Baring the same harsh golden eye glare, he pushed back from Riku. His head tilted over to Aqua, who also had stopped her attacks for the moment. "I was tired of waiting and letting you do all the work."

"Fine," Aqua muttered softly. "Help out if you must."

Zack nodded and held out his keyblade at Riku. "Well I guess a one on one fight is still fair after all."

He jumped forward, causing Riku to bring up his keyblade to block. There were so many questions in his head about all of this. He knew that Mickey had mentioned that there had been someone else with Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. Mickey had even said that Aqua gave her friend the ability to wield the keyblade. So this had to be him, the boy whose name was Zack. He too had fallen to darkness just like Aqua had, no doubt feeling that same sense of loneliness that Aqua stated before.

Riku was determined not to give up though. With Sora fighting Aqua, Riku fought against Zack, trying whatever he could to stay on his toes this time. With the two of them fighting in a closer range there were moments where they tried to switch it up, with Aqua going after Riku and Zack after Sora.

The two that were drowned in darkness seemed to have some pattern when they were near each other. Their attacks seemed to play off one another some of the time, with them always keeping an eye on the other.

Eventually Riku could tell that Zack was growing tired. His attacks slowed and became disjointed and messy, leaving him wide open for Riku to strike. Zack breathed out, staggering back as the darkness flared up around him.

"No… why…" Zack muttered between weary breathes. The darkness was practically dripping off him while he began to sink into the water.

He looked over to see where Aqua was. He had to see if she was okay, but when he looked he saw her staggering as well. Sora too had won against her and now she was falling back into the water. Falling into the water with the darkness washing off of her.

"A-Aqua!"

Riku watched as suddenly Zack tried to run, despite sinking and stumbling into the water. Neither Sora or him stopped Zack though, far too confused by his sudden change of action. Just as Aqua was nearly consumed by the water, Zack collapsed right before her, falling into her chest. In the blink of an eye the two were gone beneath the surface.

Aqua felt Zack crash into her, resting his head against her chest. A small wave of relief filled her when she felt the boy with her. Her arms slowly wrapped around him as her eyes began to feel heavy. They were sinking again… deeper and deeper. She could barely keep her eyes open, but she felt some relief that Zack was still here with her. She could barely think at all… it was all too hazy in her mind at this point.

"So this is the end…"

Just as she was ready to close her eyes, she heard a voice. The boy's voice from before. He was calling out to her. Opening up her eyes she saw him swimming down to reach her. Not waiting to lose Zack at all, she tightened her grip around him with one arm and reached for the brown haired boy with the other. Still her mind was already fading away, but she did at least feel the boy grab her hand before she faded.

When Aqua stirred, the last thing she expected was to wake up to the faces of her friends standing over her. They called her name, both looking concerned. Slowly a smile graced her lips. "Ven… Terra…"

Though she groaned slightly, her head throbbing and the images of her friend shifted. The image of them faded away and now it was the two boys from before. "It's you…"

"Thank goodness. You're awake!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Mickey… Are these… the Destiny Islands?" Aqua asked hesitatingly.

Mickey nodded. "That's right.

Aqua frowned as she sat herself up a bit more. "When did they fall to darkness?"

The silver haired boy smiled and shook his head. "You're in the realm of light."

Aqua let out a gasp as a tear streamed down her face. "B-But… I'm… I'm really…"

The other boy also smiled and held out his head. "You're home."

More tears streamed down Aqua's face. She tried her hardest to not let her emotions run too wild, but a sob had broken through. "B-But wait…" Something tugged at the back of her mind, stopping her moment of joy. "Where's Zack!?"

Her heart started to race until she actually started to look around. There she saw that he was laying next to her, just a couple inches away. He still layed there quietly, breathing in and out, seemingly not shaking by the light that was in the world. No darkness seemed to be tainting him anymore much like Aqua herself. He seemed back to normal as he was, albeit for his outfit looking far more torn and tattered.

Aqua moved over to him, leaning over him. She couldn't even begin to explain her relief upon seeing him. All of her emotions mixed together into a blend that made every beat feel overwhelming.

Slowly she reached out and cradled the back of his head gently in her hand.

"Zack. Hey Zack, wake up."

It only took a few seconds before Zack groaned and his eyes flickered open. He had to blink a few times, no doubt trying to adjust his eyes to the light. But once it seemed his eyes could focus, he stared up at Aqua. "Aqua… how come you didn't tell me… that you were an angel?" He started to smile after that, even if he did seem a little tired in his expression.

"Oh Zack…" Aqua let her tears stream down her face again. She couldn't suppress her laugh as it mixed into her sobs. Pulling Zack up, she embraced him as tightly as she could. Her head resting against his as she finally just let her suppressed emotions go.

She could feel Zack's arms around her after a moment. Their little private group hug didn't last for long though as the others cheered for the two of them being back home before joining in on the hug.

Aqua didn't really mind though. The entire group hug proved that she was back. She was back safe in the realm of light. But Zack right in her arms… that also proved that he was safe. He deserved it as much as she did, and she couldn't have been more thankful that both of them returned safely.