A/N: Finally back with more of this story! :D This chapter took a while, but I'm happy with how it turned out!
The ball was a blur of dresses and dancing, talking and twirling, all wrapped in a surreal haze. Terra hadn't seen so many people since leaving his homeworld to train under Master Eraqus. He had only been ten then, a carefree and outgoing child. If his path hadn't taken a sharply unexpected turn, maybe he would have grown into someone who felt comfortable in a place like this, mingling with well-dressed strangers. Well, maybe not the well-dressed part. Fashion never would've been part of his skillset no matter what world he grew up on. As it was, though, the crowd made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. So many people in one place, with only a few routes of exit. His eyes flitted to those exits every few minutes, as if to make sure they wouldn't suddenly disappear. Best to be prepared in case any Unversed did decide to crash the party.
"Did you spot those monsters again?" Cinderella asked with a hint of worry, though it didn't interrupt the pace of her waltzing.
He shook his head, clenching his hand that hovered by her waist into a fist. It had been cupped ready to summon a keyblade. "Sorry. Just staying on guard."
"No need to apologize, Terra." She smiled. "I suppose that's to be expected from a knight."
He stifled a sigh. It was doubtful that anything would convince her that he was no knight in shining armor, and he couldn't make the argument without exposing himself to deeper questions.
In time with the orchestra, he gracefully twirled her out and in again. Who would have guessed Aqua's forced ballroom dance lessons would pay off? He wasn't half bad, he liked to think; waltzing was just like a shorter, more controlled version of his Slide command.
Cinderella smoothed her skirts with one hand while keeping hold of his with her other. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you learn to dance without ever attending a ball?"
"A good friend of mine taught me," he was relieved to be able to answer honestly. "She would love this place."
"You mean she didn't come?" Cinderella frowned. "But every eligible maiden was supposed to attend."
"Well, uh…" Here we go again. Much as he enjoyed this time with Cinderella, he should find an excuse to leave soon, before she managed to sneak out all of his secrets. "She had to stay home. She had some, uh, important stuff to do."
"That's too bad," she said, seeming to take his answer at face value.
It was, really. He and Aqua had always wanted to explore the worlds together. He had assumed that would happen when they were both masters. How was it that he had ended up here, while she was still back in the Land of Departure? Shouldn't Master Eraqus have sent them both on a mission this important?
Then again, if the Master had, then Terra certainly wouldn't be dancing here with a beautiful woman in his arms.
"What about your stepsisters?" He asked, changing the subject away from Aqua. "Are they here, if every girl was supposed to come?"
"Yes, they left for the ball before you came," she said with a brief flash of worry. "It's quite crowded, however. I doubt they will notice us."
What would happen if they did? Terra wondered. He hadn't pressed Cinderella for details, but her family had clearly torn her original clothes apart, and possibly injured her as well. They obviously didn't want her to be here.
He did another survey of the ballroom. When he focused on the other ballgoers' faces rather than the room's exits, he realized just how many stares they were drawing. Whether it was his own conspicuous clothing, or Cinderella's magical gown, he had no way of telling.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he murmured, rotating their waltz so she could see the faces that he had. "Do you recognize any of these people?"
She gasped, pulling closer to him. If it wasn't for the poofiness of her skirts, she could have hidden in his silhouette. "Drizella and my stepmother. I don't believe they were looking this way."
Terra's instincts told him to get Cinderella out of there anyway. As much as he wanted to sweep her towards one of the exits, she might not appreciate him making the decision to cut her magical experience short. Besides, what could her family do in public?
Force me to remove her heart? While the thought had originally come to mind as a joke, it made him wince. This night had been going entirely too well, with no evil forces trying to use him for their purposes. He was jumping to conclusions, he knew, but he still didn't want to take chances.
"Should we go?" He asked Cinderella in a whisper.
She looked torn, trying to glance at the two women lingering in the crowd behind him. He snuck a glance over his shoulder to make sure he could identify them. One older woman in a purple dress, and a younger one in green. True to Cinderella's word, they did seem to have their backs to them, their focus turned towards something on the other side of the ballroom.
"Where's Anastasia?" Cinderella asked, more to herself than him.
"Cinderella," he called back her attention. He hadn't wanted to interrupt her wonderful night with unpleasant thoughts, but he needed to know what they were dealing with. "I saw what you looked like before that fairy lady showed up. What did your stepfamily do to you? Will they hurt you if they find you here?"
Cinderella winced. Suddenly in her face he could see the shadow of the girl who had been kneeling alone in the night, crying and broken. "They… don't hurt me. Not physically, at least."
Terra didn't find that very reassuring. "What do they do?"
"They make me work harder, mostly. They give me more arduous chores, and they say… rather unpleasant things. But it could be far worse."
"Things can always be worse. That doesn't make it okay for them to treat you badly." He was surprised by the anger in his voice. He didn't even know her stepfamily. All he knew was that Cinderella's heart was filled with light; anyone who would try to take advantage of that was undeserving of his respect.
She looked away. "...Perhaps you're right. I have learned to endure it, though."
Terra shook his head. If he'd been in her situation, he would've fought his way free. Then again, he had a few inches and about a hundred pounds on her, not to mention a keyblade. What was a girl like her supposed to do?
"No point in you having to endure anything more tonight. We should go," he urged her.
"I… suppose you're right." She sighed.
Careful to keep himself between her and the women, just in case they turned around, Terra made for the western exit. Along the way he passed a refreshment table that looked like it had been ransacked. Feeling slightly guilty, he took a moment to sweep some tiny sandwiches up in a napkin and stuff them in his pocket. If Aqua knew how little preparation he'd taken before leaving the Land of Departure, she would have given him a good scolding. His meager stash of food had run out the day before, and while he had money from defeating Unversed, he'd yet to find a market in the previous two worlds he'd visited. At least this world was inhabited by more than dwarves and witches, so that was promising.
He shook his head, taking longer strides to catch up to Cinderella. His stomach was hardly the most pressing issue at the moment.
They emerged onto a balcony that sprawled over a starlit garden. Fountains gurgled as they reflected the pinprick lights of other worlds.
All those places I can escape to, and yet she's stuck here… If he needed further proof that life wasn't fair, this was enough.
"I think we'll be safe from them out here," he said. "Wouldn't want you to have to go all the way home when it's only…" He glanced up at the clocktower that loomed in the distance, "eleven o'clock at night." Later than he'd thought. How had the time slipped away so quickly?
Cinderella beamed. "One more hour of wonder. Oh, thank you, Terra. If my stepmother had seen me, she surely would have sent me home at once."
"To be honest," he replied a little sheepishly, "I'm not sure they would have recognized you."
"Oh, I don't know about that," she said while fingering her silk headband. "Surely a nice dress hasn't changed me so much."
"I wasn't just talking about the dress. I was talking about your strength." He smiled.
"My…?" She laughed. "Now you're just being silly."
"No, I mean it! You stayed completely calm when those Unversed attacked. That takes courage."
"I hid under a seat," she replied flatly.
"Which isn't panicking," he said with a shrug. "Plus you chose to come to this ball even knowing that your family would punish you if they found out. Have you ever done anything like this before?"
"Well… no," she admitted. He wasn't surprised; she just didn't look like someone who would disobey orders. Unless it was for a ball, apparently.
"Then that's courage." Not everyone could run keyblade-first into battle. He hadn't understood her unique kind of strength when he had first met her, but to be as kind as she was, after enduring what she had… Terra didn't know that he could've done it.
"Hmm… if you say so," she said with a slight smile. She thought he was just trying to flatter her, probably. Part of him did want to make up for underestimating her before, but what he'd said was true.
They walked down the length of the balcony, staring out over the grounds. No more Unversed, Terra noticed.
"Would you mind if we took a walk down there?" Cinderella asked.
"Sure," Terra agreed. It would be farther from her stepfamily, which was safer, as far as he was concerned. Maybe he shouldn't be so paranoid, but he couldn't help thinking that a little more caution would have served him on his last two worlds.
As they strolled down the steps towards the garden, he asked, "So, Cinderella. What do you do when you're not waltzing around a ballroom?"
She chuckled. "Clean one, usually. I'm a serving girl."
"And you got those calluses just from cleaning?" He asked. He'd felt the roughness in her hand as they'd danced.
"That, chopping wood, scrubbing clothes… My talents are rather varied," she said in a satisfied way that made the menial labor sound dignified.
"That sounds… well, not fun." He grimaced. It reminded him of his chores at the Land of Departure.
"It's not so bad." She shrugged as they passed a flowing fountain. Her reflection mingled with the starlight in the water. "I sing while I work, and I have some friends that help me from time to time."
Friends? Terra wondered. Hadn't she said something earlier about not often having friendly conversation with humans? He debated asking, then thought better of it.
"What about you? What is it like being a knight?"
"Ah. Right. Well…" He ruffled his hair. "It's a lot of training, mostly. Practicing with the k- sword, sparring with the other ap- knights. There's actually a lot of cleaning involved too."
"Really?" She asked with interest.
"Yeah. I know my way around a broom and mop." He smiled. "Getting to visit other wor- kingdoms, though, that makes it all worth it."
"I bet it does." She gave a happy sigh at the thought, sitting down on the edge of the fountain. Water droplets dotted her back, but she didn't seem to notice. "To see other kingdoms… oh, I can hardly imagine. It sounds wonderful."
"Have you ever been anywhere else?" Terra asked, sitting beside her. The fountain's spray actually felt comfortable on his back; he was still warm from the crowded ballroom.
She shook her head. "Not since I was young. My father used to take me with him on his visits to other cities, until he passed away. My stepmother would never let me do that now, even if she were to travel."
She stared up at the stars. The lights reflected in the blue of her eyes. Millions of worlds, and this was the closest she would ever be to them.
"I wish I could bring you with me," he found himself saying before he could think. What was he thinking? He barely knew this girl! And it was absolutely forbidden to reveal the knowledge of other worlds, much less bring a person to one.
And yet, he found that he meant it. He wished he could show her the worlds, see the rapture on her face as she took them in. It was utter fantasy. The worlds weren't even safe, not with the Unversed still on the loose.
She looked to him with her lips parted in a silent gasp. "Is that something you could do?"
He winced. Bad enough for him to indulge in impossible thoughts; he didn't need to get her hopes up, too. "No. Knights travel alone, or with other knights. It would break every rule in the book for me to bring someone else along."
"Oh." Her head hung. "I believe in dreams coming true, but I suppose that would be a bit much, even for me." Then she turned a smile towards him. "Maybe I'll just have to become a knight myself someday."
It was clearly a joke, he could tell, but he played along. "Chopping wood isn't that much different from swinging a sword. You'd probably do just fine."
She laughed. "Maybe so, but I wouldn't be able to swing that sword at a person to save my life."
"Hey, we don't often have to fight people. Unversed, Heartless; those are our real enemies."
"Heartless?" She asked curiously. Him and his big mouth again. Well, it wasn't like Heartless were necessarily a secret.
"They're monsters, like the Unversed you've seen. They're made out of darkness though, while Unversed are said to be made out of emotions."
"Hmm. Well, I don't see anything wrong with fighting darkness." She smiled. The small expression could have lit up the entire night.
They settled into a comfortable silence, listening to the sound of the wind and the bubbling of water. For perhaps the first time since leaving the Land of Departure, Terra didn't even think about his mission. He thought about the wonder of the worlds, and how they would look through her eyes. Brighter, surely. No one would have convinced her to try and steal someone's heart.
He didn't want to think about that now. So he didn't.
Following an impulse, he put an arm around Cinderella's back. He half expected her to be surprised, but instead she leaned in, resting her head against his shoulder. Part of him wondered what he was doing, why he was letting himself get this close to a girl he was certainly going to have to leave. But he supposed she would have to leave anyone that she met here. This was one night of magic for both of them.
And if she wanted to spend it with him, who was he to stop her?
XXX
It turned out that Vanitas's nose adjusted to the scent of light after approximately an hour. In that time he had slapped some sense back into himself. Sniffling and asking for hugs? Really? His pride would probably never recover. It was the lack of his helmet, he was sure; it was so easy to lose himself in this delusion when Aqua treated him like a normal person.
That didn't mean he wasn't enjoying it, he reluctantly admitted.
"Seven skips," he announced smugly, leaning against the post of the bridge. "Beat that, Aqua."
She laughed, picking up another smooth stone from the edge of the stream. "You don't know who you're dealing with, Vanitas. I've been skipping rocks practically since I was born."
"I've been skipping rocks for approximately ten minutes, and I'm still winning." He smirked. The ten-minutes part wasn't entirely true; he remembered skipping rocks with his dad, but that was before Ventus was split out of him. Those memories were full of holes and fragments. For some reason the farther back he went, the clearer they were; the few years spent training with Xehanort leading up to his accident were the hardest to remember.
"Not for long," she promised, tossing the rock up and down before launching it across the water with a sharp flick of her wrist. One skip, two, three, then four-five-six-seven-eight in quick succession. "There we go!"
Vanitas scowled. "Lucky hit."
Aqua chuckled. "I just had to warm up. It's been awhile since my friends and I made it out to the lake."
His skin prickled at her mention of her friends. He had managed to control his words over the last hour though, and held in a snide comment that a dead fish probably could've beaten those two at skipping rocks. Which also wasn't true, because Ventus presumably had all of Vanitas's skill, too.
The sour thought fueled a rather reckless throw. His rock broke the surface of the stream with a sad plunk.
"Whatever," he grumbled. "Skipping rocks is stupid, anyway."
"Oh, now that you're losing, it's stupid?" Aqua teased, reaching out a hand like she wanted to ruffle his hair, then thought better of it. Good choice, because he would've had to bat it away anyway. He couldn't risk letting her touch him again, not after how irrationally emotional he had become last time.
The truth was, those emotions still hadn't burned themselves out, even though he had fortified his earlier facade. Forget the witnesses, I should have just killed her at the start. When she still made me want to break things.
"I'm sorry if I offended you," Aqua said sincerely, stepping into the shallow water so she would be in front of his downcast eyes. Vanitas snorted. Offend him? He was the most offensive person in the worlds. True that that didn't mean he could take it the same way he could dish it out, but her remark had hardly crossed his mind. Maybe it would be best to pretend it had, though.
"Forget it," he brushed her off and bent down to pick up another round stone. I could always just nail her with it. Pretend I missed. He entertained the thought briefly before before sending the stone skipping across the stream's surface. "Seven again," he muttered. His dad would have been ashamed to see him get beaten by a girl. Not that it mattered, because he would never see him again.
"Seven's pretty good, for only ten minutes' worth of practice," encouraged Aqua. "You're a natural."
Vanitas stared at her in puzzlement. First she was gloating, then it was as if she wanted him to win? No, she was probably just patronizing him. He crushed the growl rising in his throat.
What does it matter how she talks to me? I'm just going to kill her anyway.
He snuck a glance at the clocktower that rose in the distance. Just past eleven thirty. He'd arrived at the ball around ten. Somehow, against his better judgement, he'd managed to waste an hour and a half tolerating Aqua's presence.
And she's wasted an hour and a half tolerating mine, he realized. That was the real shock. Cloaking spell or not, the darkness was in his veins, his personality, his very soul. What could she see in him to take a whole night she could use looking for her friends and instead spend it with him?
"Eyes as sad as yours…"
He shook his head. He was not sad. Very soon he would be very, very happy. Just as soon as she was gone.
His brain thought the words, but his irregular heartbeat disagreed.
"Vanitas?" Aqua asked after finishing skipping a stone of her own. In the back of his mind he counted the ten ripples. Ten. That shouldn't even be possible. "We can do something else, if you want."
Surprisingly, she didn't ask if he was alright, even though his unmasked face broadcasted more of his conflict than he would've liked. Maybe she was smarter than he gave her credit for.
"Sure." He shrugged apathetically. The embroidery on his collar scratched his neck, making him regret the motion.
They started crossing the stream via the delicate arching bridge, but Aqua paused when they reached its center and tilted her head up. "Look at that."
"What?" He grumbled for the sake of it. He should keep his tone civil, he knew logically, especially since he could feel his cloaking spell beginning to fade. He still had time yet, but a flare of darkness could pierce it like his keyblade through a Shadow.
"The stars," she breathed with a smile. "They're so much different here…"
She stiffened, as if realizing she wasn't supposed to have said that. Vanitas ignored the motion and looked up himself, squinting.
Then his eyes widened. He had never looked at the night sky without his helmet on before. Was this world special, or were there always so many bright lights up there? They looked like the glowing eyes of thousands of Heartless. Only much less eerie. In spite of being a heart of pure darkness himself, there was something about the Heartless - Neoshadows in particular - that sent involuntary shivers down his spine. Lost memories from before the split, probably.
Aqua heard his slight gasp of awe. "Are the stars new to you, too?"
If she was trying to confirm him being an outworlder, she was going to have to try harder than that. "...You could say that." He had vague memories of staring up at the stars with his parents, but they were so fuzzy they could have belonged to someone else. Do belong to someone else, he thought ironically. "I don't get out much," he mumbled finally.
"I suppose you could say the same thing about me," she said with a wry smile. "I recognize some of these constellations though, even though others look different tonight."
"Constellations," he tasted the word. Old and melodious. Something possessed him to say, "tell me about them."
She happily obliged. "See those three points? Along with the dimmer ones beneath, they make up the King's Crown."
He squinted harder, face scrunching in a way that he would've found undignified if he happened to glance down at his reflection in the water. "I see a bunch of dots. Are you saying they're supposed to make a picture or something?"
"Mm-hmm, that's what a constellation is," she explained without an ounce of sarcasm. The word's definition clicked in place, settling out of the debris of unlinked memories.
"Huh." He grunted, wishing he had some kind of magnification spell. His night vision was exceptional, but the stars… there were just so many of them, they seemed to swim in his sight like a sea of sparks. "Show me another one."
She pointed up towards a curved line of five bright dots. "That's the Hydra's Back. I'm not sure why it's named that, rather than after one of the creature's many necks." He nodded, picking out that one with less difficulty. He guessed the curve looked a little snakelike, if you stretched your imagination. "Then there's the Cheshire's Grin…"
She described the arrangements of stars while he followed her pointing finger with his gaze. The names brought order to the chaos, made patterns out of the star ocean. It was surprisingly soothing, listening to her voice, watching images blossom in the sky. He swore she was actually using magic to highlight the constellations now, with the assumption that he wouldn't notice.
"If you look closely at those blue-tinted ones, you'll see that they look almost like a keyblade." She coughed, catching herself. "Key, I mean."
He nodded, accepting her lie, though it brought a smirk to his face to realize that she was having as hard a time choosing her words as he had. The stars had opened her up more than she had been before.
"You know a lot about those little lights," he remarked offhandedly.
"Stargazing is one of my favorite hobbies," she replied with a shrug, leaning into the bridge's railing. "My friends and I love to sit outside at night and imagine…"
He raised an eyebrow as she blushed. The expression prompted her to finish, "Imagine visiting all those far-off places. But that's silly, of course. Impossible."
"Of course." His smirk widened. If he had really been the innocent civilian he pretended, the words would have registered as idle fantasies. Her bluff wasn't bad; he just had the knowledge to see through it. "What did you think you'd find out there? Worlds made of rainbows and gumdrops?" He joked. Bet that's what Ventus hoped. We always did like sweet food.
She blinked at the question, as if it hadn't crossed her mind. "I'm not sure, really… but I certainly didn't imagine this." That last part was barely a whisper, but Vanitas's ears were keen too. He couldn't help a chuckle.
"Surprised to find yourself chatting with a-" heart of pure darkness? "-a grumpy man who thinks everything's stupid?" He forced himself to finish instead.
She laughed at that. While his nose had adjusted to her scent, that laugh still made him involuntarily shiver. Half of him wanted to punch her for the light-filled sound; the other half wanted to bottle it up and save it forever.
You light-blinded idiot. Soon you're going to kill her, and no one's ever going to hear that sound again. He felt a spark of satisfaction that that meant Terra and Ventus would never again hear it. Vanitas would be the last one.
"You don't think everything's stupid," Aqua replied, jarring his thoughts.
"How would you know?" He scowled, which for some reason made her laugh again. He wasn't sure whether to feel pleased or insulted. Insulted was always a safe bet.
"Well, you've spent most of the evening with me." Her face was pointed towards the sky, but he caught her looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. "So I would be surprised if you were to decide that I'm stupid."
Oh, Aqua. You have no idea just how stupid you're being right now. Then he thought, But you're not the biggest idiot in the metaphorical room.
That title belonged to him. He was running out of time, and still he stood there, lounging against the railing, as close to the girl as he dared.
Void. Is this puberty? The sudden thought broke through. Xehanort had never mentioned the term, but it precipitated out of his memory of a joking comment his dad had made once. No. It's just the light, like Ventus's. Must still be affecting me, even if I can't smell it anymore. Or she's so good at magic, she's using it on me without even realizing it.
Or while realizing it?
He glanced up at her face, wondering if he'd find any traces of craftiness there. He didn't. Just a confused smile. Oh; he'd never addressed her comment.
"You are stupid," he said. "You could've been in the ball, dancing with…" Anyone else, really. Anyone who wasn't out to kill her. But he hadn't exactly given her that choice, had he?
"Well, you didn't exactly give me a choice," she echoed his thoughts, albeit in a much more lighthearted voice. "But if you had, I still don't think it would've been stupid for me to choose to spend time with you. I've enjoyed tonight."
They were such simple words. To Vanitas, they were both an embrace and a dagger.
Well, at least she'll die happy.
It was time. The cloaking spell was fraying; it was only a matter of time before she caught wind of his darkness, especially at such close range. His fist clenched.
Sleep. Then Thundaga. It'll be painless.
Painless? Since when do I want it to be painless? I'd wanted to see her suffer. I could reveal who I am now, show her what an idiot she's been. She can die knowing she embraced the embodiment of darkness.
Somehow, the mere idea of revealing his identity sent a spike of fear through him. She couldn't know. Even for a second, he didn't want her to realize that this mask of friendship belonged to him.
She already knows, idiot. You told her your name. It doesn't mean anything to her.
Suddenly she gasped, and her hand clasped around his, cutting him off before he could whisper the spell. "Vanitas, look! A shooting star!"
She pointed to the sky, and he looked up just in time to catch it. A streak of light, blazing across the sky like Firaga shot out of a keyblade. It burned itself out as quickly as it had appeared.
"Did you make a wish?" She asked.
"A wish?" He echoed, mind only halfway there. The other half was on his plan, and yet another half on his hand in hers. In the moment that faulty math didn't register.
"Yes; have you ever wished on a shooting star before?" When his blank face answered the question, she continued, "It might just be where I'm from, but when you see a shooting star, you're supposed to make a wish. It can be anything you want."
"Anything?" He asked. She grinned and nodded.
"Anything. But don't say it out loud, or it won't come true."
He wasn't worried about that. He was already sure his wish wouldn't come true.
Because in that moment, when she had said anything, the first thing that had entered his mind was…
I wish I could keep you alive.
It was then that he knew for certain that he'd waited too long. He was weak. Pathetic. He had been looking forward to this moment for the past three days since Master Xehanort had revealed the plan, and he wanted to turn back now?
No. It's me or her. The old geezer made that clear enough. Was it that simple though? Aqua may not be expressly necessary to their plans, but Vanitas was. The old Master couldn't get rid of him that easily.
But she would, he knew. If he spared her now, she would find a way to be there when he merged with Ventus. And at that point, she would not show mercy.
"You're thinking pretty hard," she said with a squeeze of his palm. "Don't worry, it doesn't have to be a perfect wish or anything. It really is anything you want."
Hah. As if I know what I want. Before now, it all had seemed to clear. What was she doing to him? He needed to get away, evaluate his emotions without her there pulling the strings. But there was no time for that; an opportunity like this wouldn't come again.
At that moment, two things happened. The clocktower released a deafening GONG, and his light-cloaking spell unravelled. It took less than a second for the darkness-induced feeling of nausea to hit her.
"Vanitas, what…?" GONG. "Is everything-?"
"Everything's fine," he calmly replied over another GONG. "I made my wish."
GONG.
His hand rested on her face, the last touch he would allow himself. She didn't even flinch.
"Sleep."
GONG. Her eyes rolled back; she slumped against him, hair tickling his cheek. She was heavier than he'd expected, and he staggered back, almost dropping her against the white planks of the bridge. Thankfully he didn't; that might have been enough of a shock to wake her up.
GONG. He leaned her up against the railing and held out his palm as he waited for his Thundaga command to load. Her chest rose and fell evenly, unaware of the danger.
WRONG. He jumped. No, that had just been another obnoxious gong; what had possessed him to replace it with a word?
WRONG, he heard again. His teeth grated against the noise. "Will you shut up?" He shouted.
WRONG. The clock mocked him, fraying his already stretched patience. "I'm not wrong! I have to do this!" He needed to be whole again; that was the only thing that mattered. Aqua was nothing more than an obstacle to be removed.
WRONG. He summoned his keyblade, though he knew attacking the clocktower from this distance was impossible. Maybe he'd just stab Aqua instead of using the spell. Even as he thought that, his arm wavered.
I've never killed anyone before. I thought it would be easier than this.
WRONG. He lowered his keyblade, dragging the tip against the ground. He was the loser who needed breaking in, not Ventus. How was he supposed to win the Keyblade War if he couldn't even kill a stupid girl?
WRONG. Wait. Maybe he didn't need to. A thought flashed to mind, brought up by the memory of Ventus needing to be broken in. He was still weak, far weaker than Vanitas. Meanwhile, Aqua was a Master.
A plan began to form in his mind. A plan where he got to play with fire a little longer.
He flicked his wrist to open a dark corridor, then gathered the unconscious girl over his shoulder.
After all, it never hurts to have a backup.
A/N: Some of the parts with Aqua and Vanitas looking at the stars (particularly the bit about constellations) were inspired by Ejes's fanfic "Secret Place," which is a great one to check out if you enjoy Vanitas/Aqua!
I've already started on the next chapter, so the next gap shouldn't be too long.
I realized I currently have two different cliffhangers going on two different fanfics with an unconscious Aqua at the same time xD I put her through the worst stuff... ^^;;;