Warning: This chapter contains Cleon, Aqua/Vanitas, young boys wearing tutus, Spandex, and gumdrops. Yes, gumdrops.

Always in Your Dreams

"Hey, get out of the way Aqua!"

"Move it, Terra! You're such a slowpoke!"

"Ow!"

Aqua and her brother Terra struggled to catch a glimpse of the Christmas tree in the other room through the keyhole.

"Stop pushing!"

"I'm not pushing!"

"Yes you are!"

"Now, children!"

Aqua and Terra whirled around and saw their mother standing there will his arms full of Christmas decorations.

"Honestly, the party's about to start, and all you two can do is argue!" their mother said, putting up the decorations.

"Sweetheart, can you fix my tie?" called their father, his spiky brown hair not even combed yet. "I want to look my absolute best for this year's Christmas party!"

"Well, of course, Leon darling!" called their mother. He ran over and helped their father straighten his tie.

"Thank you, Cloud dearest," he said. Aqua and Terra nearly gagged at the sight of their parently love.

Ding Dong!

"Oh my!" screamed Cloud, dropping all the decorations. "The guests are already here!" He hopped up and down, suddenly very frantic, then froze, and fell to the ground unconscious.

Leon sighed, then grabbed Cloud's legs and used them to drag him out of the way. "Can you take care of the guests?" he groaned under Cloud's weight.

Aqua and Terra nodded excitedly. Together, they opened the grand front doorway, allowing floods of guests to pour in.

And man, there were a lot of guests. Friends, family—even people they didn't even know showed up! There was laughter, food, drink, toys, singing, and dancing.

Especially Aqua; she loved to dance. Whenever she had the spare time, she would put on her ballet shoes, and dance to imaginary music in her head.

While the party was still young, the doorbell rang. Leon, being the man of the house (err...sort of...) went to go open the door.

"Come in, come in!" they heard him exclaim from the foyer. Everyone watched as Leon waltzed in with another guest: a man wearing a mysterious black cloak.

"Everyone!" he shouted happily. "Eraqus is here!"

Immediately, children came running up to the man, clinging onto his legs and arms. Some children stayed away; he was an intimidating looking man, with unusually long black hair and a scar running across his face.

But most odd about him, was that he was a toy maker, and a magnificent one at that. His toys, usually very large in size, always seemed to come to life. There were even rumors that the man was a wizard in disguise.

Aqua came running. "Uncle Eraqus!" she cried, giving him a warm embrace. Terra stayed back; he thought that Eraqus was a weirdo.

Uncle Eraqus laughed. "My dear niece!" he cried, returning her hug. There was no doubt about it; Aqua was his favorite.

Suddenly, Uncle Eraqus brought his fingers to his lips and let out a loud whistle that got everyone's attention. "Bring 'em in, boys!" he shouted out the door.

Two burly men came in carrying two very large boxes wrapped in colorful paper and tied off with bows. Grunting, they set them down on the ground with a THUMP.

Eraqus reached into his pocket and presented two gold pieces. "Here you go," he said to each of them. "And thank you for bringing these in, Dylan, Aeleus."

Dylan and Aeleus walked away with their meager salary. "We don't get paid enough for this," muttered Dylan.

As a crowd gathered, Uncle Eraqus undid the ribbons on the first box and stood back. The box opened, and a life-sized windup ballerina leaped out, and started to dance. Everyone ooed and ahed as she twirled and jumped like a real dancer.

Uncle Eraqus then undid the second present, and a life-sized windup soldier marched out, his musket pointing straight up into the air.

After he had put the toys back in their boxes, Eraqus went up to Aqua in private. "I have a special present for you," he said, winking.

He reached into his coat, and pulled out a smaller box with paper and ribbons. Excited, Aqua ripped off the paper and opened the box, where a tiny wooden man lay on velvet cushions.

"A nutcracker," said Uncle Eraqus. "Someone to keep you company."

Aqua gasped with happiness as she carefully took the nutcracker out of his box. "Thank you!" she cried. "He's beautiful."

When Aqua wasn't looking, Terra crept up from behind her and took the doll right out of her hands. "Big deal," he said. He took out a walnut and stuffed it into his mouth. "Let's see him in action!"

"Terra, stop!" cried Aqua. Terra cranked and cranked, but the walnut wouldn't break.

"Humph, it doesn't even work!" he muttered. He threw the nutcracker against the wall, and walked away.

"Nutcracker..." Aqua ran over and picked him up off the floor, but it was too late—his face had been damaged badly.

Eraqus came over and inspected the damage. "Here," he said. Using bandages, he wrapped the doll's face so that it looked almost like a mummy. "With a little rest, he'll be better in no time!"

Aqua hugged her uncle. "Thank you, Uncle!" she said. She held the nutcracker close. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll always take care of you."

"Awwwkward..." whispered Terra.

Aqua turned. "What did you just say?" she asked coldly.

Terra, who was awfully frightened of his sister in general, backed away slowly. "N-Nothing, ma'am!" he whimpered.

Aqua smiled and went back to cuddling her new nutcracker.

Pretty soon, the party came to a stop, the guests left, and the children went to sleep—except for Aqua. She was so excited about her new nutcracker that she crept out of bed and went downstairs, just to see him.

When she got downstairs, she found him lying in a doll sized bed, the bandages still wrapped over his face. She smiled and stroked the bandages, but then realized that she was very sleepy.

So she lay down next to the doll sized bed, and fell fast asleep.

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong...

Aqua woke with a start as the clock chimed midnight. Not remembering where she was, she looked around the room, and realized that she had grown smaller—or that everything else had grown bigger!

The Christmas tree, which was pretty tall in general, seemed to tower above her now, and the toys under the tree were nearly her size, and so was her nutcracker!

Without warning, the nutcracker suddenly shifted into consciousness. "Ahhh..." he moaned, putting his wooden hands to his bandages. "My face..."

Aqua gasped. The nutcracker heard the noise and turned to the sound of the noise. "Geez, I'm sorry!" he said sincerely. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Aqua, touched by his words, calmed down and gave him a better glance. He was tall, slightly muscular even, with shiny black boots, white tights, and a red jacket with polished gold buttons.

"I-It's alright," she said. "My name's Aqua. How does your face feel?"

The nutcracker groaned again, rubbing his face. "It still burns," he said. "At this rate, I don't know how I'm going to be able to defeat Xehanort now."

Aqua happened to notice that he didn't mention his name, but she was even more puzzled by what he just said. "Xehanort?" she said. "Who's—"

"Hello there, child!" called a creeper-ish voice.

Aqua and the nutcracker whirled around to see an old man standing with his hands clasped behind his back. His crazy gold eyes frightened Aqua, but she gathered her strength and looked at him in the eye. "Who are you?" she asked.

The old man chuckled. "Why, I'm Xehanort, of course!" He snapped his fingers, and a whole army of mice appeared at his side. "And these are just a few friends of mine, right fellahs?"

The mouse army laughed in unison, making Aqua shudder.

The nutcracker snapped his wooden fingers, and a whole army of toys came to life and came to his aid. He unsheathed his sword. "Surrender, Xehanort!" he cried.

Xehanort unsheathed his jagged sword. "Never, you're Majesty!"

Aqua looked at the nutcracker, confused. "You're...Majesty?"

Before he could answer, Xehanort charged forward, and a battle commenced.

Aqua ran around, stuck as to what she was supposed to do. Something whizzed past her head. Looking behind her, she saw that some of the dolls were firing gumdrops from a toy cannon.

"Here!" shouted a Teddy Bear. "Use this!" He threw her a house key to use as a weapon.

Aqua shrugged, and plunged deep into battle, slicing this way and that, using moves that she didn't even know she had.

Once all of the mice were dead, Aqua noticed that the nutcracker was still fighting against Xehanort, but he couldn't see through the bandages.

Xehanort laughed and kicked him in the stomach, making him drop to the ground. He raised his sword above the nutcracker's head, ready to give the final blow.

Panicking, Aqua reached down, took off her shoe, and threw it at Xehanort, knocking him off balance.

The nutcracker saw his opportunity. Quickly, he got up off the floor, and slashed through Xehanort's heart, killing him instantly.

All the toys clapped and cheered in excitement, for they had won the battle! The nutcracker looked around, searching for Aqua. "Aqua!" he cried. "Aqua, where are you?"

He looked down at the floor. Aqua lay at his feet, unconscious yet pretty. (Apparently, she takes after her mother in more ways than one, *wink* *wink*.)

The nutcracker sighed, grabbed Aqua by her legs, and used them to hoist her onto the doll-sized bed.

Then he climbed on, stood at the head, raised his sword, and the bed slowly started to float away, into the starry night sky.

Aqua reawakened a few hours later, and jumped as she saw her new surroundings. Instead of being back at home, she found herself in the middle of a snowy wood, with trees that were proportional to her size. She gasped. "Where am I?" she breathed.

"You're safe in the Peppermint Woods," said a familiar voice.

Aqua sat straight up, and came face to face with a handsome young man with spiky black hair and hazel eyes.

She frowned. "Who are you?" she asked.

The man smiled. "Aqua, don't you recognize me?" he said. "It's me; you're nutcracker!"

Aqua observed him more carefully, and found that what he said was true. He was wearing the same clothes (although his pants had been changed to stretchy Spandex so that he could leap and bound more freely), and his tone of voice was the same. Somehow, he gave her the same warm, homey feeling that the nutcracker had.

"N-Nutcracker?" she said. "But...how...?"

The man shook his head. "Xehanort cast an evil spell on me, turning my body into wood. But since you helped me defeat him, I have been set free. Thank you." He reached out his hand. "Now you may formally call me, Prince Vanitas, or just Van for short."

Aqua giggled. "Why, of course, Van," she said. She took his hand as he helped her up on her feet.

As they walked down the snowy path, Aqua became so absorbed in looking at his gorgeous face, that she didn't even know where they were going. "Umm...where are we going, exactly?" she said.

"To my kingdom," said Vanitas. "The Land of Sweets."

After walking for a long time, they finally saw the palace gate in front of them. At the gate, someone stood there, waiting to greet them.

Aqua cocked her head. "Who's that?" she asked.

Vanitas held back a snicker. "That's the Sugar Plum Fairy," he said. "She always waits at the gate for me while I'm gone."

Aqua could feel her blood start to boil as she pictured the most likely beautiful fairy greeting the prince at the gate everyday. But as they got closer and closer to the palace, Aqua realized that she had nothing to worry about.

"Welcome," said the Sugar Plum Fairy, who was less than enthusiastic. Aqua desperately tried not to laugh as she was greeted by a boy only a few years younger than her, wearing a purple tutu and a tiara with plums hanging off of it. A purple sparkling wand was used to open the gate as he led them through. "Right this way," he moaned.

Aqua almost decided not to ask, but asked anyways. "Why...?"

"He lost a bad bet," said the prince, smirking. He called up to their tour guide, "Hey Ventus, I want to see you tiptoe like a real fairy!" He laughed.

Ventus growled, and started to tiptoe as he led the guests to the sparkling crystal hall. "I hate my life," he muttered.

He guided them up to the front of the hall, where they took their seats upon a large golden throne big enough to fit two people. Sighing, Ventus grabbed a sparkling purple bullhorn, climbed up on a sparkling purple stool, and shouted. "Let the festivities begin!"

All the people of the Land of Sweets came running in through the front door, all wearing gorgeous costumes looking like sweets.

First, a beautifully dressed couple did a ballet routine called the "Dance of Hot Chocolate".

Then a mysterious belly dancer leaped in and did the "Dance of Coffee".

After that, twin girls wearing fancy silken costumes from China did the "Dance of Tea" while jumping out of an enormous teapot.

A tall woman wearing a very poofy hoopskirt came in, named Mother Ginger. She smiled, lifted her hoopskirt, and a band of mischievous children jumped out and did a merry dance.

The last of the performers were a group of graceful women who did the "Waltz of the Flowers". It was so catchy and fun, that even Vanitas and Aqua danced along with them. (Vanitas in his Spandex...ugh...)

After they sat back down on their throne, Aqua sighed and rested her head on Vanitas' shoulder. "What a beautiful place this is," she said. "I wish I could come back here all the time."

"But you can," said Vanitas, giving her hand a squeeze. "You can always come and visit this place in your dreams."

Finally, as the festivities ended, it was time for Aqua to go home. She and Vanitas stepped into a magic sleigh already prepared for them. As they flew off into the sky, the people of the Land of Sweets whooped and hollered as they waved them goodbye.

They next morning, Aqua woke and found Vanitas in his nutcracker form lying right next to her—his face in perfect condition.

Aqua smiled and hugged her nutcracker close, remembering the evening she had had at the Land of Sweets. And she knew, deep in her heart, that she would most definitely be visiting again soon.

The End.

(Heehee...Microsoft Word thinks that whenever I type in, The End, that I have made a fragment and that I should consider revising...wow...)

Please R/R