A/N: Oops, I lied. Here's another chapter of this, then (hopefully) I'll get to the end of ASAS. I just needed to get this down before I forgot a lot of the things I had planned.

Aqua awoke near midnight to the sound of Unversed materializing. Adrenaline snapped her into full consciousness; her keyblade flashed to her hand before she processed exactly what the noise was. Once she did, she only gripped it tighter.

This is it. He's decided to stop this game and just kill me. Well, she wasn't going down without a fight. She stood as tall as her Unversed cage allowed and took up her battle stance.

Only… if he was going to send Unversed after her, why wouldn't he just use the Cursed Coach? The cage-shaped monster expanded and contracted gently, as if in unconscious breathing.

Cautiously, she poked her head out one of the windows. To her surprise, Void was still asleep - at least, there was a Void-shaped lump under the mass of dusty blankets. That could easily be a part of the trap, though.

Then she caught sight of the Unversed. A single Flood wandered around the room, diving in and out of the carpeted floor.

"Mmmfffp..." Void rolled over, and part of his helmet peeked out from under the covers. Then he went still again, save for the slight rise and fall of his chest. So it wasn't a trap, it seemed… but then what were those Floods doing?

The Flood popped out of the ground right in front of her cage. She took a step back, but it had already made eye contact.

The creature leapt up towards the barred window, squirmed through, and tumbled into her cage. Her hand tightened around her keyblade, but she didn't attack just yet. It could still be some kind of trap, if one she didn't understand. Why would Void pretend to be asleep, then just send one small Unversed after her?

The Flood's head twitched to the side. It looked at her keyblade, almost like it was… curious. But that was ridiculous; it was just a monster. It didn't have emotions. Right?

"They're made of what I feel," Void had said. Did that mean they could feel too? The thought made her uncomfortable.

"Stay back," she whispered to the Flood, baring her blade warningly. It skittered back to the wall and plopped down. She stared at its glowing red eyes. She'd talked to it out of instinct; she hadn't actually expected the monster to listen.

Out the window, Void still seemed to be asleep - though she thought she heard muttering. He could be controlling the Unversed, but it didn't seem likely.

The Flood curled up like a cat, its arrowhead face lying over its feet. Its red eyes closed - she hadn't known they could do that. It looked like… like it wanted to go to sleep too.

This is all some very elaborate trick… or Void just created Unversed out of his sleepiness.

Tentatively, and with her weapon still bared, she approached the resting Flood. She wasn't sure what she hoped to learn, but she didn't feel comfortable going back to sleep herself until the Unversed was gone.

Her silent steps didn't wake it. She was able to get close, closer than was comfortable, but still it slept, its small body inflating and deflating with mimicked breath. It almost looked… innocent, sleeping like that. Like a calm pet. She wasn't naive enough to actually believe that. Still, when she raised her blade to strike it down, she hesitated. The creature hadn't hurt her, and destroying it would surely wake Void.

She had an idea inspired by the time she had found a rat inside the castle in the Land of Departure. Terra had said they should poison it, but Aqua had managed to catch and release the animal in a harmless homemade trap. The Flood didn't have a natural habitat to return to, but she could at least move it out of her prison.

She didn't release her keyblade, but she used her other arm to carefully scoop up the sleeping Unversed. Its eyes didn't open. That was a good start. Now, if she could just dump it out the window -

The Flood squirmed, startling her into dropping it too soon. Its eyes slowly blinked open, and it shook its head. But for some reason, it still didn't attack. It just sat there and stared.

"You're not very smart, are you?" Aqua whispered. She couldn't help it; she smiled a little. When the creature wasn't attacking, it was almost cute. "Or maybe I'm the one who isn't very smart…"

She was just imagining any friendly traits in this monster. It was because she hadn't spoken with anyone but Void in the past three days, most likely.

Still, she sat down and observed the Flood. It slid a little closer, but eyed her keyblade warily.

"You know what this can do, don't you." After thinking through the worst-case scenario - that the Flood could jump in her face and attack, which she could always heal with a Cure or two - she banished her keyblade.

The Flood recoiled at the flash of light. Then it dove into the floor of the Cursed Coach and resurfaced right in front of her.

Aqua bit back a yelp, but couldn't scoot back in time to keep the Flood from leaping into her lap. She readied a Fire spell - if she woke Void, so be it; she wasn't going to let the monster hurt her if she could help it. The flames grew in her palm -

And flickered out. The Flood was already asleep again, snuggled up against her.

"...Void, you have some explaining to do."

XXX

"So, what do you have on the agenda today?" Aqua asked after Void emerged from the bathroom the next morning. The little Flood stopped batting around her crumpled papers and went still; it had done the same thing when Void had first woken up, like it didn't want its master to notice it. "Terrorizing the worlds? Burning down buildings? Kicking puppies?"

"None of the above," Void answered in a tone that was less grumpy than usual. He had seemed in an oddly good mood the previous day, too, at least after all the craziness with borrowing her keyblade had passed. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. "I've got time to kill, so I get to stick around today."

Wonderful. Aqua stifled a sigh. She'd planned to attempt an escape today, call his bluff on having Vanitas. He had never brought back a letter the previous day. Even if she was wrong and he actually did have Vanitas, escaping would still be the quickest way to find out.

Think positive, she told herself. "There's no trial so dark that you cannot keep a still heart," the Master had always said. She would do just that; Void didn't need to know that this isolation was getting to her. Maybe she'd even try to be cheerful - that would throw him for a loop.

"That sounds great," she said with a grin. Terra or Ven would have seen right through it, but hopefully it looked real enough to Void. "You have time to deliver my letter, then."

Void ignored her, as he often did in the brief times he was around. "Do you want breakfast?"

"Can you hear through that helmet?" She asked, already failing to keep the irritation out of her voice. So much for her Master's teachings. "I told you what I wanted. Give Vanitas my letter."

She wondered if Void had read the one she'd written for him. Maybe threatening him hadn't been the best way to get what she wanted.

"Alright," Void finally said. Aqua blinked. No more argument, just a calm reply. "On one condition."

Of course. "What? Are you going to steal my light again?"

He snorted. "Don't tempt me."

"I thought that was why you wanted me," she went on. "Why else are you keeping me here?" He hadn't done that awful trick since the first day, not that she was complaining. It just didn't make sense.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said, surprising her. It wasn't a real answer, but it was still more than she'd expected. "For now though, I just want to see your board game."

"Command Board? Why?" Her brow furrowed. She had been playing it to pass the time and to try and level up her commands, since she couldn't physically train much at the moment.

"Maybe I just like board games." There was a hint of sarcasm in that.

"Fine." She shrugged. "Deliver my letter and let Vanitas write me one in return, and then we can play."

That idea sounded ridiculous when she said it out loud, but he nodded. "Don't have too much fun while I'm gone."

He disappeared, and the timid Flood rustled her papers as it slunk out from the corner. It darted around her legs before hopping up to the window and peering out.

"You can go out there, you know," she told it. "You're not trapped in here."

Technically she wasn't either, not entirely. Last night Void had explained that she could knock on the Cursed Coach three times, and it would open its mouth to let her walk to the bathroom. If she tried to go the opposite direction though, towards the other door or the window, the Unversed would attack and Void would come for her.

But, it was still more freedom than she'd had previously. And she didn't have to suffer through his horrible portals. Even if he had only moved her so he wouldn't have to walk her to the bathroom each time, she could appreciate it. The feeling of him waiting on her had been almost as disconcerting as those portals themselves.

She knocked thrice, and the wide barred maw slowly opened. The Flood darted out, and she chuckled and followed behind.

Sure enough, the large Unversed didn't attack. She got her first clear image of it from the outside - it was shaped not like a regular carriage, but like a giant pumpkin. Thorny tendrils snaked out from its sides, and curled vines formed its wheels. Its middle window curved back into an eerie grin. This, at least, was an Unversed she could never find cute.

She tried to ignore the sensation of it watching her as she entered the bathroom, shutting the door before the Flood could slip through too. Then she sighed deeply and leaned against the side of the porcelain tub.

Free. Free from the stifling confines of her cage, free from the nauseating sensation of darkness, which her stomach had finally almost adjusted to. She would wash her clothes, dry them with a weak mix of Fire and Aero. She would soak in the bathtub without worrying that Void would walk in on her. Maybe she would even close her eyes and sing while she was at it, like she would back home.

She would do all that… in a moment. Right now she just breathed. Breathed, and let a few silent tears drip down her face.

Then she stood up straight and looked herself in the mirror.

"I'm going to get out of here," she told her reflection. "I'm a Keyblade Master. Ven and Terra need me. Vanitas needs me."

She wouldn't fail them. She couldn't fail them.

So she put on a brave face and got ready to face the day.

XXX

"Sheesh, if these people are so rich, why can't they afford ballpoints?" Vanitas shook the stolen bottle of ink and set it down on the wooden crate. "Or at least pencils. Writing's stupid enough without having to use a freaking feather."

He grumbled to himself as he spread out Aqua's letter, smoothing out the creases. He didn't really need it out in order to write his reply - he'd memorized its contents after about the thirteenth time reading it. What he needed it for was her handwriting. The tight, elegant script was flawless. He knew he couldn't hope to match it, but it could at least help him remember how to form legible letters.

He shrugged and cracked his neck before muttering, "Well, here goes nothing."

He dipped the tip of the feather in the black ink, hovered it over the paper, and began to write.

Aqua,

…

…

He cursed. Not on the paper, just in his head. What was he supposed to say? It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it. He'd probably thought too much about it - the ideas had invaded his dreams last night, distorted and foolish. In most of them, he had told her the truth; it was her reactions that varied.

Killing him. Kidnapping him, trapping him inside his own Unversed. Torturing him with Thundaga, like Master Xehanort.

Forgiving him. Holding him tight, like she had that night he could never forget. Helping him forge the X-Blade.

Foolish.

He crossed a giant, bleeding X across the page, crumpled it in his fist, and tossed it across the length of the storage room.

Focus, he thought, suppressing a pair of Scrappers itching to burst out. It's just a stupid letter. I can do this.

He took a clean sheet from the box he'd found.

Agua,

He scowled. One word in, and he'd already misspelled her name. He wadded that page up too and hurled it as far as he could. In that moment he'd let his guard down, and a Scrapper did sneak out.

"Behave," he ordered without bothering to look at it as he slammed down another page.

Aqua,

…

"Come on, this shouldn't be so hard," he said out loud. "I am Vanitas."

It should be easy. He was just pretending to be himself. What would he say if he actually was a regular, hopeless person? He sat there, thinking, then dunked his feather in the ink and began to write again.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, three more false-starts, and an awful hand cramp, he had a passable letter. Passable, and just a little bit concerning - it was hard to tell where his lies ended and the truth began. But it felt… right. Kind of like when he released an Unversed, he felt a little lighter after scribbling out the words.

He blew on the paper to dry the splotchy ink, then folded it into a square. His Scrapper climbed up onto the crate and stared at it, as if to ask, Are you really going to tell her all that?

"I'm not telling her. Vanitas is. Now come on, I think I smell some croissants with our names on them."

XXX

Vanitas entered the room holding both his letter and a fresh croissant in the air.

"One letter and one hot breakfast, no extra charge," he announced in his Void voice, the one with a hint of a growl and a double dose of his usual arrogance. He expected a snappy reply, but there was none. "Aqua?"

Before he had time to panic, he heard the water running in the bathroom. Right, he'd given her permission to use it while he was gone. It didn't have any windows; he doubted she could escape through there.

"Hm. Croissant's gonna get cold." He plopped down on the bed, thinking about eating it if she didn't come out soon. She would probably refuse it, anyway. She was stubborn like that. It couldn't be healthy for her, though, just living off whatever she'd been able to fit in her pockets for four days. It would be stupid if he went through all this trouble of keeping her safe, just to have her starve to death.

He was lying back on the bed, swinging his legs off the side, when a faint noise caught his attention. He would know that noise anywhere - it was the sound his Floods made when they leapt out of the ground. But he hadn't created any Floods today.

He sat up and saw the small Unversed hovering by the bathroom door.

"Hey, get away from there." He summoned his keyblade and swatted it back. "Aqua's probably taking a bath. She'll kill us both if you go in there."

The Flood scampered back, but it tilted its head and twitched an antenna, as if to say, Okay, but listen.

"Listen to what?"

But then Vanitas heard it - the thick wooden door muffled the sound, but Aqua was definitely singing. He suspected he could only hear her at all because she was belting out the words.

"...in a kingdom of thieves, and people who say, things they don't really mean, really mean…"

Vanitas took a step back, the lyrics echoing in his head. Something about those words…

"You're only everything I ever dreamed, ever dreamed of, ever dreamed of…"

He clutched the front of his helmet. It didn't help; his head still throbbed with the ache of the missing memory.

"You must be kidding me, did you really think, I could say no…?"

He growled, frightening the Flood into the floor. What was that song? More importantly, why did it feel so important to remember?

"I want you for a lifetime - but if you're gonna think twice, baby - I don't wanna know…"

He stood straight, as if shot with Thunder. A piece of his memory linked into place.

"Don't Think Twice," he whispered, backing away from the door. How could she know that song? It had come from a world farther away than she'd ever traveled. He knew because it was the world where he - where Ventus - had been born.

Twilight Town.

He squeezed his eyes shut against the happy memories that threatened to overpower him. His dad had sung that song to his mom all the time. Vanitas wondered if he still sung it now. If they were still just as happy without their precious Ventus.

"I don't wanna know, baby… I don't wanna know…"

Vanitas tossed the croissant through a window of the Cursed Coach, which bounced a little in surprise. Then, eyes stinging, he opened a dark corridor and practically threw himself through it.

All these sudden emotions would make for some dangerous Unversed.

XXX

Aqua emerged from the bathroom, feeling clean and refreshed. The warm water and unrestrained singing had pulled her out of the dark cycle of her thoughts. She felt ready to take on the world.

The Flood from before darted up to her and butted its head against her leg. She jumped at first, but then laughed.

"Still sticking around, huh?" She asked the strange Unversed. Of course, it didn't reply. The Cursed Coach did wave its vines threateningly, however. Back to her cage, then. Her dark mood tried to rise up again, but she took a deep breath and let it go. Keep a still heart. Cage or no cage, I will make the most of this.

She was startled to notice a croissant lying among the papers she still hadn't bothered to tidy up. Had Void left it here while she was bathing? The thought of him hanging around while she was singing out loud unnerved her. Maybe it had unnerved him too, considering he wasn't here anymore.

Well, at least he hadn't walked in on her, or yelled at her to shut up. Small blessings.

As was the discarded croissant. She picked it up, dusted it off, and took a tentative bite. Her mouth watered at the taste of something that wasn't jerky or stale granola. It melted into buttery flakes on her tongue, and she hastily ate the rest of it. If that was one extra point to Void, well, at least he wasn't here to see it.

"Finally," his low voice called a second after she heard his portal open. "I thought you might starve to death just to spite me."

Alright, so apparently he was here to see it.

"Don't flatter yourself," she told him after she swallowed. "Do you have my letter?"

She was expecting him to come up with another weak excuse, but he actually held up a folded sheet of paper.

"Vanitas sends his regards." He flicked the letter towards her like a throwing star. She caught it with a thoughtful frown - she had been ready to call his bluff this time. There was still the possibility that Void had forged it, but she wouldn't bet on that until she read it.

"...Thank you," she said, more out of habit than feeling. Though her fingers itched to open the letter right then, she placed it in a pocket of the cloth wrapped around her waist.

"Tch. You spend all this time begging me to get that to you, and you're not even going to read it?"

"I will. You said you wanted to play Command Board, though." The true reason was that she didn't want to read it with Void watching… and, honestly, now that she had it, she was afraid of what Vanitas might have written. He had every right to be upset with her, considering how awful of a situation she had gotten them into.

"That's right." He snapped his fingers, and the Cursed Coach's mouth opened. The Flood from earlier hid in the floor while Aqua stared out hesitantly. "Come on. I'm not going to squish in there with you."

There would have been plenty of room in the Coach, technically. Not that she wanted to be closer to him than she had to, but she found it suspicious that he would let her out just to play a board game. Maybe he was getting arrogant. If so, that would make escaping easier.

Regardless, a few more minutes outside of her cage would be welcome. She carefully stepped down and followed Void's lead in sitting down on the musty carpet.

This is strange, even for me, she thought, briefly making eye contact with her reflection in Void's helmet. Then she unfolded the Command Board and laid it out between them. At the tap of her fingers, the small illusions of herself, Terra, and Ven came to life. She could have sworn Void jumped at that. Quickly, she reconfigured it to take out the NPCs, and added an illusion of Void instead. It would have been wrong to let him control the avatar of one of her friends.

"Alright." She cleared her throat. "Here's how you play…"

XXX

"Piece of cake!"

Vanitas actually growled this time, clenching his fist and barely stopping himself from slamming it down on Aqua's gloating avatar. His own small illusion had his arms crossed and was kicking at the ground with his boot.

"You aren't a very graceful loser," Aqua noted with a bit of a smirk.

"That's because I don't lose."

"I think the last four games would beg to differ." Yes, she was definitely smirking now. She collected the commands she'd won - some of which had been his own commands that she had paid GP to take over. Just Fire, Thunder, and Sleep this time - he'd learned his lesson after the first round, when he'd lost Dark Thundaga, Triple Firaga, and Illusion Strike. She'd neglected to tell him before starting that any commands he laid down had the possibility of being stolen, and they would become keyed to her command deck instead, so he couldn't simply steal them back.

"Set it up again," he said, collecting back his leveled-up commands and the single new one he'd won, a lousy Blizzard. Aqua hadn't been foolish enough to lay down any powerful commands even in the beginning, so his total winnings consisted of that Blizzard and an Aero from earlier. He hoped that maybe if he stole enough of her commands, she'd eventually have to use the good ones. But that required him to actually win for once. The only victory Vanitas had, if it counted as one, was that he'd learned she couldn't use the board game as a communication device.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "You can always quit before you get even farther behind."

And let her hold it over him forever? "I don't think so."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself." She tapped the board a few times, resetting the illusions to the keyhole-shaped square, then shuffled up her commands. "Speaking of suits, what's with that costume?"

"What?" He glanced down at himself and frowned. That was the boldest comment she'd made to him so far. All this winning was making her cocky.

She nodded towards him, already rolling the die. It landed with six dots facing up. Figures.

"That suit you always wear. Are there Moogles that sell tacky villain clothing with skirts?"

"Wha- you- it's not a skirt!" His voice cracked pathetically. At least she couldn't see the heat in his face.

"What is it then?" She asked with mock interest. He snatched the die and rolled, not paying attention to which path he directed his avatar.

"...It's a waist cape," he replied. He vaguely heard his illusion groan when he landed on a square that stole his GP.

Aqua just stared, a look of confusion frozen on her face.

Then she burst out laughing.

"You - you're not serious," she gasped out through the shaking laughter. The smell of light was spilling off of her now, stronger than it had been since that first evening he'd spent with her. He'd had time to acclimate though; it only made him a little dizzy this time.

"Of course I'm serious! Skirts are for girls!"

That just threw her into another fit of laughter. Red Hot Chilis of embarrassment wanted to burst out, and he just about let them. The only thing that stopped him was that he didn't want to catch the Command Board on fire - at least not until he beat her.

"You might want to consider an outfit change, then," she got out. "Or does your boss make you wear that?"

"Xehanort can't make me do anything. I can change any time I want." He crossed his arms.

Her laughter choked off as surely as if he'd wrapped his fingers around her neck. The commands slipped out of her hands. One landed on the board, fuzzing through her avatar.

"What - what did you say?"

"I can change any time I want," he repeated. Why did she look so pale? "I just happen to like my waist-cape."

"Forget the skirt - waist-cape, whatever." She shook her head. "What does Xehanort have to do with this?"

Xehanort? How does she-! Every curse that Vanitas knew flashed through his head. How in the Void had he let that slip? He had let her get under his skin, catch him off guard - but it didn't matter now. It was too late to take back his words; all he could do was attempt damage control.

"Nothing," he lied. "I told you. I'm the only one you need to worry about."

She stood, making the Cursed Coach wave its vines in warning.

"No," she breathed, eyes still wide. "You come and go. You complain about the difficult jobs you've had to do - you're not the one making the rules. But - Master Xehanort?"

He stood too, hand itching for his weapon, not that it would help. Unless I just kill her. This whole plan was a long shot. Stupid, stupid!

No, no. Calm down. I can't throw away my whole plan now. I still need her.

"I have to tell Terra," she said, more to herself than to him. "I have to get out of here."

He pressed down the rising Archravens of fear.

"Do that, and he'll just kill you," he warned.

She frowned at that, then put on a look of resolve. "No, he won't. He must need me, or else you wouldn't have taken me here."

Vanitas laughed. He couldn't help it - she had no idea. And he was going to have to gamble on that. He could only hope that his luck paid off more here than it had in Command Board.

"Aqua, you are the last thing Xehanort needs. Trust me on that one. If you leave here, it will be the end of both you and Vanitas."

"Like I would trust anything you say!" She held her hand out to the side and summoned her keyblade. Vanitas gritted his teeth, but called forth Void Gear too.

"Don't trust me, then. But ask yourself: is this a risk you'd take, even if your lives are on the line?"

She hesitated. It was enough time for the Cursed Coach to scoop her up in its vines and toss her back into its maw. She cried out as it started to chomp down on her, but Vanitas reached out and calmed the Unversed.

"I guess we'll have to have our rematch later," he said. It was too bad. As much as he hated losing, exchanging banter with Aqua had been entertaining. Plus, it was the closest to a civil conversation he'd had with her as Void.

"Or never," she spat back. "I don't care what you say. Terra and Ven and Vanitas need me, and I will find a way to help them."

Vanitas rolled his eyes, not that she would see. You want to help me? Stop trying to get out of here.

"Personally, I think it's about time Terra and Ventus learned to solve their own problems for once. Like Terra? Right now, he's on the verge of falling into darkness. Even if you were there, there would be nothing you could do about it."

"No," she gasped, then gave her fiercest glare. "Terra would never give in to the darkness! He's stronger than that!"

He'd hoped that news about Terra would chip away at her confidence, but instead it apparently fueled her resolve. This whole intimidating thing was more difficult than he'd expected. Or else, Aqua was just stronger than he'd expected. He could respect that.

"We'll see," he replied cryptically as he folded up the Command Board and tossed it inside her cage. Aqua rose to her knees.

"I'm sick of your mind games! What is it you want with me and Terra!?"

Her voice stayed steady; her glare still bored through him. But he noticed, only briefly, a tear running down her cheek. A Flood peeled itself from him at the realization - he choked it until its life flowed back into him. Along with the guilt he shouldn't be feeling.

He turned his back so he wouldn't have to face her.

"I don't want anything with Terra," he answered honestly. "As for you… I'm still figuring that out."

Let her decide what to make of that, he thought.

I'm getting tired of playing mind games too.

XXX

After Void left again - to where she didn't know - Aqua released her frustrations by running through as much of her training regiment as she could. Crunches. Push-ups. Punches. Not kicks; there wasn't quite that much room. The little Flood from before hovered around her, flinching sometimes when she would shout.

"This - is so - hopeless!" She yelled in time with each push-up. Finally, after having reached fifty, she let herself collapse. "I can't just sit here while my friends are in danger…"

But what else could she do? Playing Command Board with Void had shown her a disheartening truth - his commands were far more powerful than hers. Higher leveled, too. Clearly he'd had more practical fighting experience, while hers was limited to sparring in the Land of Departure and her few encounters with the Unversed before the ball. Plus, he hadn't even needed to fight her - his Unversed could restrain her just as easily.

Hopeless.

"No," she told herself. "There's always a way. There has to be."

The Flood darted to her side and huddled up against her. She was too tired to bother flinching away, and this particular Unversed, for whatever reason, had never tried to harm her.

She rolled over and sat up, eying the creature. It had never tried to harm her.

"They're made of what I feel."

If she took his word for that - which in this case seemed a safe bet - then there was some part of him, however small, that didn't want to hurt her. Combined with what she'd tricked him into revealing about Xehanort… Void might be attempting to appear like more of a threat than he really was.

But then again, was she willing to risk it?

Her mind ran circles, analyzing everything he'd said throughout their games. In spite of everything, she still felt the urge to laugh at his defensiveness over his "waist-cape." Honestly, even her fabric wraps were less of a skirt than that.

Thinking about all of that was useless, though. She knew that. She needed a new angle, a fresh perspective.

Maybe Vanitas left me a clue, she thought, reaching into her pocket for the letter. Her fingers turned it over and over again, feeling its sharp creases, but just like before, she felt a spark of fear at the idea of opening it.

I'm being ridiculous. If he's upset, he has every right to be. I will take it like a Keyblade Master should. So, this time, she took a deep breath and unfolded the page.

...

Aqua -

Sheesh, you worry too much. I'm not scared. I'm not mad at you either.

A smile spread on her face; she could've sworn a physical weight lifted from her shoulders. He wasn't angry. From someone else, she might have thought they were lying to protect her feelings, but Vanitas seemed the type who would tell her straight out.

Something nagged at her though - something about his handwriting. The sloppy scrawl looked strangely familiar. It was probably nothing; she returned her attention to reading.

I'm just mad at Void. He seems like a pretty big - something was scratched out there - jerk. Crazy strong jerk though.

Here's what happened. He showed up out of nowhere out of some black portal thing. He cast Sleep on you before I could do anything. Then I got a couple of kicks and punches on him before he carried us off, but it didn't do much. Then he threw me in this room and took you somewhere else. I'm surprised he's letting us write each other.

So you're not from this world, huh? I guess that explains why you're better than most of the losers around here. If I could get out, I'd do it in a heartbeat. That keyblade thing sounds cool. You got any idea where I can get one? I bet if we teamed up we could kick Void's butt and bust out of here.

She laughed at that image. It was sweet of him to say, even if it was impossible.

Also, you can quit apologizing. I would have danced with you anyway. I'm way more selfish than you are.

She paused and re-read those lines. She could imagine those words as if he'd said them aloud, in his grumpy to-the-point voice. For some reason, it warmed her inside.

I'm doing fine for now. Bored as Hades, but fine. Void better be treating you okay. I know you said not to fight him, but if he hurts you, I'll kill him. Keyblade or no keyblade.

And what makes you think you'll be the one to get me out of here? Maybe I'll surprise both of you key masters and be the hero. In the meantime, don't do anything stupid.

- Vanitas

She covered her mouth, hiding a little laugh. It was adorable, really, the idea of him trying to protect her. She pictured him trying to scowl Void to death and had to laugh again.

As relieved as she was by the letter, there was still something wrong - he hadn't answered one of her questions. She scanned the messy handwriting, wondering if she had missed something, and then turned the paper over. That was where she found a few more scribbled words.

P.S. You said I was handsome. Is that enough proof for you?

Her face heated. Of all the things from that night that he could have picked...

"Because you're beautiful."

"Thank you…?"

"That wasn't a compliment. That was a fact."

"Um, well… you're rather handsome yourself."

"...What?"

"That's just a fact, you know."

The memory brought a small smile to her face. When was the last time someone had called her beautiful? She couldn't remember. Wait, she could - it was the Master, the day she had accidentally burned off a chunk of her hair while learning Fira. She'd had to cut her hair up to her neck to get rid of all the singed pieces. It had been horrible. But Master Eraqus had cleaned up her subpar job, smiled at her, told her that her short haircut suited her. He'd assured her that she was beautiful.

That was five years ago. She had kept her hair short ever since.

She shook off the reminiscence. The Master was like a father to her, so while that experience counted, it didn't count in the same way. Vanitas had called her beautiful in such a matter-of-fact way, as if there couldn't possibly be any question. It had brought a… surprising feeling, to say the least.

And while she'd mostly complimented him back in order to shake off her own embarrassment, he was handsome. Maybe she shouldn't have thought that, considering he was probably a year or two younger than her. It was difficult to tell, though. His expressions had seemed too intense for someone younger than her, and yet for a moment he'd seemed to break…

"Can I… can I have a hug?"

"Of course."

He'd clung to her like it was the last hug he would ever get. Or maybe it was the first. Did he have parents? Most normal people her age or younger would, but he had been alone. Except, he'd been looking for someone, hadn't he?

"Oh? Did you find them?"

"...Yeah."

And then he'd flashed that smirk, the one that been more attractive then it had any right to be, coming from a stranger. But if he'd found who he was looking for, why had he ended up dancing with her afterwards? Unless… he couldn't have meant he'd wanted to find her?

"I'm being silly, aren't I?" She said aloud. The Flood looked up from its place at her side.

Well, there was only one way to find out. So she picked up her journal, tore out a page, and started to write.

XXX

Some day off this turned out to be, Vanitas thought when he finally sunk into bed that night. He only had himself to blame - if he hadn't let Xehanort's involvement slip to Aqua, she wouldn't have freaked out, and they could've kept playing Command Board, and… and what? Playing a stupid board game wouldn't make her his friend.

Wait, since when did he care if she was his friend? He just wanted her for her light. And to forge the X-Blade with, if Ventus ended up being too weak.

Light is stupid. He really should sleep in a different room, the clean smell of it was probably rotting his brain in his sleep. He didn't trust her not to attempt another escape during the night, though, not after what she'd said today.

She was asleep now, though. Like he should be. But first, he'd better check up on Ventus again. He steeled himself and reached inside for their connection. Light flashed behind his eyelids, and then -

Safe… sleepy… small… why… mice… hope leave soon…

Vanitas grit his teeth and let the connection go. Not much of anything helpful this time. It was still more difficult than it should've been, especially considering he could tell Ventus was close. Probably still on this world, though apparently he wanted to leave. What was keeping him here?

...Unless he could feel Vanitas nearby, too. Or if Terra had foolishly decided to stay, even after that display of darkness. But that wouldn't make sense; he'd felt Ventus's sadness and abandonment the previous night. They had to have separated.

Ugh. Guess I'll just have to check it out in person.

But that was a worry for tomorrow. He'd deal with those idiots in the morning. For now, he tried to just enjoy the fact that he was inside, he had a warm bed, and Aqua hadn't escaped while he was gone.

His plan would still work, regardless of what she knew. He just had to be patient.

A/N: A disclaimer I keep forgetting to mention - I'm not trying to imply that Vanitas's feelings towards Aqua are healthy. In fact, I'd argue that at this point, they're definitely not. But he's very messed up and still has a long way to go.