Balle gazed out of the window, watching as the stars flew by. "Hey, it'll take a while to get to the next world." Sora said. Balle turned to face forward, indeed, there was nothing even remotely close.
"A few hours maybe..." Donald muttered. Sora sighed.
"Hey, Donald and I will take over, Sora." Goofy offered. "Why don't you and Balle take a break."
"And do what?" Sora asked.
"I dunno." Goofy shrugged. "Take a nap or somethin'."
"What about you two?" Balle asked concerned.
"Goofy and I will take turns." Donald assured him.
"If you're sure." Sora sighed. "Wake us up when we get there, or if something happens." They agreed and Goofy took the controls. Sora walked back and took Goofy's old seat and reclined in it. Balle and Donald did the same.
"Nighty night!" Goofy called. Balle smiled as his vision filled with darkness.
There he was, back again, at his Station. He looked around at the surrounding darkness, waiting. "Aqua?" he called out. Suddenly the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He jumped to the right just in time as a dark gray Keyblade struck the ground where he was just standing. He looked up and was shocked to see Aqua glaring at him. "Aqua, what are you doing?"
"Fight me." she ordered. Balle was confused. Why was she hostile all of a sudden? He felt slightly hurt as well. Glaring right back, Balle summoned his Keyblades. She charged at him and he deflected the strike. He pivoted and swooped in, aiming to trip her. She jumped back and dodged it. She suddenly hurled her weapon at him. His eyes widened and ducked under it. He looked back up and saw her summon it again as she charged at him. He skidded behind her and slashed at her back, but she twirled at the last second, parrying the blow. They both leaned in, trying to overpower the other.
She suddenly pushed him away and back flipped, putting distance between the two. Balle decided to do a little copycatting and threw Oblivion and Starlight at her. She easily ducked but forgot that he still had Oathkeeper. Her eyes widened he as was already charging at her, both hands gripping Oathkeeper. Again they clashed, but this time Balle began pushing her back. He suddenly pulled away, stepping to the left, causing her to fall forward. The next second, Oathkeeper was at her throat. She sighed.
"Why are you attacking me?" Balle demanded angrily.
"I'm sorry!" Aqua said. "I just wanted to test you."
"T-Test me?" Balle blinked. She grinned.
"Yep!" she said. "And you passed!" Balle sighed and lowered his weapon. He offered her a hand, which she gladly took and helped her up. "I sure wasn't expecting you to beat me though. And so easily. I must be getting rusty." she told him.
"I just got lucky." Balle muttered. "I've got plenty of that stuff."
"Either way." she shrugged. "So where are you right now?"
"We just left a place called Hollow Bastion." Balle said.
"Hollow Bastion?" Aqua repeated, confused. Balle just shrugged and plopped to the ground. He suddenly remembered something
"Hey Aqua?" he asked. "We visited Master Yen Sid before going to Hollow Bastion. And he filled me in about Xehanort."
"Really?" she asked curiously, sitting next to him. "And what'd he say?"
"He said that my duty is to find and purify those who are lost in darkness. Those." he said looking at her. Her eyes widened. "I'm guessing you know something about it."
Slowly, she nodded. Her eyes became sad. "My friends..." she whispered. "My friends Terra and Ventus."
Balle nodded. "I had a feeling he was talking about you." he admitted. "He said: 'One who is lost in darkness, one who had been consumed by it, and one who must have his heart returned to him.'" Balle repeated the old mage's words. "I'm guessing you're the one lost in darkness."
Aqua nodded. "My friend Terra, he was falling into darkness after our old Master, Xehanort, possesed and corrupted him." she told him. "I took his place, and now I'm here in the Realm of Darkness." she sighed and hugged her legs. Balle wrapped a comforting arm around her, causing her to lean into him.
"So, Terra was consumed by darkness." Balle stated. She merely nodded. "So what about Ventus?"
"He was possessed by Vanitas, the darkness in Ventus's heart in human form." she told him shakily. "They fought for control of his body, Ven won, but lost his heart in the process."
Balle ran and hand through her hair comfortingly. "And then?" Aqua took a deep breath and continued.
"After that we ended up at Yen Sid's tower, where he told me he couldn't sense his heart. I took him back to our home, the Land of Departure, only to find it destroyed. I remembered something that my old Master told me. Master Eraqus told me when I became a Master, that he was the protector of the world and that if anything ever happened to him, I should seal the world's keyhole with the Keyblade to prevent darkness from taking over the world. I did so, and created an entirely different world. I put his body in a special chamber, where he can rest until his heart is returned to him." She let out a deep breath after finishing her tale. "I promised I would come back to protect him..." she said as tears began forming in her eyes. Balle felt a sudden protectiveness in his heart. He held her tighter.
"Don't worry, Aqua." he whispered. "I'll save you, some how, some way."
"I know you will." she whispered back.
"And I'll save Terra and Ventus as well." Balle declared. "It's... my duty." Aqua wrapped her arms around him.
"It's been a long time since I've had contact with anyone..." she whispered blushing. "It feels... nice." Balle blushed at her words but didn't move away. He knew she needed this, to know he was really there.
"I will get you out, Aqua." Balle whispered. There was no response, he looked down at her... only to find her asleep, a content smile on her face. 'Right... I'm supposed to be napping.' Balle smiled before making a very daring move. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Sweet dreams." before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep. He didn't see her smile widen. He also didn't see a man who has soothing blue eyes and long brown hair. He also sported a short brown mustache and a small droopy white beard. He wears a white, sky blue lined haori robe that has a hood and ancient blue runic glyph markings. Underneath his robe, he wears a black shirt and black pants.