Set in the Keyblade Graveyard.

We have come to this point at last.
The story ends, and hearts have finally changed.
Did I ever mention that this story was supposed to be a one shot?
And that this Alternate Ending was never supposed to come to existence?
Hahaha!

Thank you very much for reading my work!
If you've been reading, but haven't reviewed yet, I would still love to hear your thoughts.
Especially now that the story is complete.
I hope that isn't too much too ask.

So, at the end of this Chapter, the game will proceed as it should.
Mickey will find them in the Lanes Between.

IMPORTANT NOTE
Would you like to read the Epilogue?

So, Final Chapter.
Are you ready?

DISCLAIMER [I do not own Kingdom Hearts] DISCLAIMER

ESCAPE

A way to break free from destiny…

Aqua screamed as Vanitas sent pulses of dark energy through her. His heart echoed her agonized cry, making her pain his own. His chest was constricted and it was difficult for him to breathe, seeing her suffer. He could feel his heart begging him to stop hurting her but he could hear a voice in the back of his head telling him to kill her. He would do neither of these things.

He leapt back, away from her, and held the Keyblade with both hands. Darkness coated its shaft and then fired at her. She was too tired to evade and she screamed again when it hit. Vanitas felt his knees weaken at the sound, but he could not stop. He needed her to stay strong, to fight back with every ounce of strength she had. He was aware that he was much stronger now, having acquired Ventus' power and having forged the most powerful Keyblade in existence. But he needed her to fight back, and he needed her to win.

He teleported towards her, appearing right in front of her and he brought his Keyblade down with as much force as he could muster. She blocked his weapon with hers, but her grip was weak and her entire body was trembling. He knew her defense would not last, so he moved away. But he quickly teleported behind her; he had to keep attacking and she had to keep fighting back. He aimed a kick at her side and, once again, her exhaustion prevented her from reacting quickly enough. She fell on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Vanitas… Stop it, please," she pleaded.

He gritted his teeth. "I thought you wanted this!" he said, angered as he paused in his attack.

"Wanted what?" she breathed.

"To stop the War, to destroy the X-Blade," he answered.

She looked at him and he could see confusion behind the exhaustion. He could see her lips quivering as she shuddered for air, and the fear and question in her eyes. She still did not understand why she had to fight him. Either that or she was denying it. His heart hoped it was the latter, but his mind insisted it must be the former.

"This is the only way…" he said, holding his Keyblade ready to strike her again.

"No… Please…"

Vanitas hesitated. He did not want to say it. He would sooner make her bleed than be the cause of the intense pain he had seen in her eyes twice already. But she would not fight. And since it was the only way to make her understand, he said, "You must…put an end to me…"

And if it had been difficult to look into her eyes before, it was a thousand times more difficult now. Her screams were mere whimpers compared to this. The bruises on her body, her ragged breathing, the exhausted quivering; they were far easier to witness. Vanitas felt his very being collapse when the light in her brilliant blue eyes suddenly dulled, as if her very soul had been sentenced to death and he was the executioner.

He had not intended to cause her that kind of pain. He had hoped that if he fought seriously, she would simply decide to give the battle her all as well – in defense of herself, at the very least. But she had not. And why not?

He had asked himself if he meant enough to her that her conviction would falter. But this was Aqua. She upheld right over wrong, good over evil, light over darkness every single time. Why now did she seem willing to die, rather than to destroy him, despite knowing what was at stake?

You know the answer. But he ignored his heart. It was insinuating impossible notions.

He watched with a blank expression as Aqua rose to her feet, unsteadily. "Why?" she said, her voice soft and broken.

"This X-Blade…" he said. "To destroy it, you must put an end to me."

He did not wait for her answer. He rushed at her and she raised her Keyblade to defend herself. The sound of metal against metal resounded around them, but behind it Vanitas could hear…

"Don't… I don't want this… Please… I don't want to fight you…"

He leapt away again. "Decide, Aqua!" he roared. "I need you to make a choice! What is it to the World if I die? Isn't that a small price to pay if the World could be kept safe?"

She shut her eyes tightly, her fist clenched over her heart. "That isn't fair…"

He laughed mirthlessly. Now she understands how he feels, how difficult it was for him to make the choices that led up to this moment. "Nothing ever is," he said. "In a fair world, this would not be happening… In a fair world, you and I would…"

Her eyes shot open at his words, but he chose not to finish. "Decide, Aqua," he said instead.

She shook her head.

"Why are you hesitating?" he snarled. "Twice, you defeated me, remember? Why now, when it matters the most, do you hold back?"

Her scowl was lined with anguish. "Because I didn't know who you were! You were faceless, heartless, and I was blind! Things have changed, Vanitas!"

"You're wrong. Nothing has changed. I am who you have always known me to be! I am still your enemy. I am the same dark-hearted monster that threatened your friends. I lured Ventus away from home. I helped set the trap to pull Terra into the darkness. I unleashed those monsters across the worlds," he confessed.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "That isn't all you are!"

"But it's all that counts," he argued. "Why are you so afraid to end this, to end me? What do you have to lose?"

"You…" she whispered in a shaky, tired breath.

And for a minute, he felt the pull of hesitation within him. Did Aqua just admit that she was afraid to lose him? He gritted his teeth, trying hard to resist this new temptation. If he gave in, there would be nothing but suffering and regret for them both. He must not let her control his actions, not this time. He knows what must be done.

"You must destroy me," he insisted, ignoring what she had just admitted.

"But I… I cannot destroy you any more than I can destroy Ven…" she said.

He laughed, a sound that was unmistakably both pained and amused. "You are such an idiot," he muttered in a curiously endearing manner. "I am a part of Ventus. Save him, and you will have saved me, too."

It was a lie.

Vanitas knew that he would not survive. It just would not be possible because Ventus, inside his heart, was destroying him. The only thing separating Ventus from victory was the X-Blade, which would certainly not yield to the internal battle. But if Aqua fought his physical form and destroyed the X-Blade, then nothing would prevent Ventus from defeating Vanitas.

And nothing would be left of him.

But he needed Aqua to win, and he smirked at seeing that his lie clearly sparked the reaction he wanted from her. She was predictable; giving in to an empty promise that he would still be with her in the end. But if I could promise, Aqua, I would…

He saw her hesitantly pull something out of her pocket, a charm it seemed. She was gripping it tightly, as if willing it to help her. Watching her, he had a feeling that the end was near. He wished he were closer to her so he could hear the words she whispered as she held on to that charm. He wanted to touch her hair, her face, her lips…

He shifted his feet and held his Keyblade firmly at his side, preparing for the final act.

Why are you doing this? His mind screamed. Why are you asking for death? Everything you've ever done, they were all so you could forge the X-Blade; all so the Keyblade War can begin! You wanted meaning, you wanted a future! They are within reach, at last! So why are you giving up?

It was his heart that answered. Aqua.

He was doing this for her. For her friendship and her forgiveness, for her life and her future, for her happiness and her smile… For the light in her eyes…

She was the only one who ever looked at him as if he were a person, not a creature of darkness, not a tool to be used. "I thought of you as a friend, from the very moment I met you! You meant something to me!" That day he spent with her, he felt alive. Before then, he merely existed. Afterwards, he felt empty.

But his mind was not through with him yet, far from satisfied with his answer. But why are you doing this for her? What is she to you?

He had no time to answer. Aqua, bathed in a faint light that emanated from her Keyblade, was running towards him. Her expression was determined but her eyes betrayed her fear and her pain and… And something Vanitas could not quite identify; it was a look that was unfamiliar to him, a look he had never seen before. But whatever it was, it made his heart quiver.

He raised his Keyblade and brought it down in an arc, just as she pulled hers upwards. A shockwave exploded from where the shafts met and they each stood firm against its force. This close to her, he could see clearly the smallest of teardrops at the corners of her eyes. But she would not allow herself to cry, he knew that.

"Vanitas, I…" she was saying.

"Shut up," he said, very softly, almost kindly. It will be over soon… He pushed harder against her and she returned the favor, digging her feet into the ground. The light that surrounded her Keyblade pulsed and Vanitas heard an earsplitting crack

He smirked. Aqua had won. And he remembered watching her play Fruitball, that stupid game. It seemed so long ago, but he had known she would win then, too.

He released the X-Blade as he was shoved back. It spun upwards and stopped in midair, vibrating ominously. And now he could feel an excruciating pain in his chest, as if his heart had shattered with the X-Blade. And it probably had. He clutched at his chest, grimacing as he fell onto the earth.

"Vanitas!"

What was it that he heard in her voice? Concern? Regret? Hurt? What was it, that soft ring at the end, the one that suddenly made his heartbeat want to fight the chaos that was threatening to wipe him out?

He struggled to stand, struggled to look at her. "Aqua…" he gasped. He managed to get to his feet, but only for a second, and he was on his knees again.

The X-Blade had gone haywire, shooting beams of energy around them – fine as thread but sharp as the edge of a sword. He watched Aqua trying to reach him, wincing each time a strand of light touched her. He wanted her to stop. There was no point in hurting herself further.

He felt something in his chest implode and he clawed at it, screaming. Ventus had emerged victorious, too, and now his consciousness – having been defeated – was slipping away.

He heard her call his name again and he blindly extended his hand, hoping she would take it. He needed to touch her, just once more, a moment more. He felt relief surge through him when her fingers closed on his hand. And that relief grew to heavenly bliss when she pulled him close. It was far more than he could have ever asked for. He felt warmth and heard an unfamiliar frantic pounding – although it was very faint. And he realized a second later that it was her heart, beating so loudly that even her armor, even the explosions around them, could not silence it.

He smiled at that; she was letting him hear her heart.

"Aqua," he said again, but every breath of air that escaped his lips caused him agony. He was fighting a losing battle, fighting to stay when he knew his life was over.

He could feel her warm breath on his forehead, her lips almost touching his skin. "Vanitas," she said, hurriedly as if she knew they had only seconds left. "I know what you were going to say. In a fair world, you and I would…"

"…be together," he finished. His vision blurred. He could no longer see her face and he wanted to scream. And it was at that moment that he found the answer he had been searching for. He understands why she was always on his mind, why his heart danced at the sound of her name, why he could not kill her, why he defended her from Xehanort, and why he was giving up his life for her. He finally had a name for what he was feeling.

And that look in her eyes earlier, the one that was so unfamiliar, the look that no one else had ever given him. He knows what it is; only because he was certain that he was looking at her now in that exact same way, if not stronger.

He wanted to laugh at his own stupidity, at his blindness, at his denial. He wanted to scream at the thought that Xehanort and even Braig figured it out before he did. And he wanted to burn the universe because it only allowed him to learn when it was simply too late. There was a powerful anger and hatred within him; this was never meant to be, and that was why he only realized now.

He raised his hand to her face, the one that had been clutching his chest in a vain attempt to hold his heart together. He pleaded. Let me stay long enough to tell her…

"Aqua, I love you..."

She heard him say her name as she felt his fingertips on her cheek. But that was all she heard and nothing more. His lips were moving, but his voice was gone. "Vanitas…" she said, her own voice breaking as she shook her head. "I can't hear you…"

The light was beginning to fade from his eyes, the once-brilliant gold turning dull. She leaned closer, looking into his eyes and resting her forehead against his. "What did you say?" she asked. "Please…"

And, suddenly, she felt his lips catch hers.

Her eyes shot wide open. His kiss was unbelievably gentle; almost innocent if it were not for the desperation she felt behind them. But she felt the same desperation, too. And she allowed her lips to meld with his, giving him this, and letting her heart have its way. It was a fleeting kiss, one that spanned only a single heartbeat. And before she could memorize how his lips felt, how his kiss tasted, before she could even think that she wanted the moment to last for eternity, it ended. The gold in his eyes had gone completely, softening to a familiar shade of blue.

His lips fell from hers and his eyes slowly closed.

Aqua was brought back to reality, back to the pain that seared her skin each time a beam of energy came too close. All the exhaustion that had temporarily been fought down when she was desperate to reach Vanitas resurfaced in full force. Only then did she realize that she no longer had the strength to stand or move, and even the act of breathing was taxing.

She held Vanitas – no, Ventus – as tightly as she could, unsure of what would happen now.

"I am a part of Ventus. Save him, and you will have saved me, too"

She would save them both, if it was the last thing she did.

The X-Blade overhead had shattered into a million shadowed pieces that faded into the air. She hardly felt the explosion that followed even though she shielded Ven from it. It took a minute before she became fully aware that she was no longer on the ground and she was at the mercy of the wind.

A hundred shards of light bit her skin, a thousand gusts of air threatened to reduce her to nothing. But she ignored the physical pain and the strain she was suffering through. She did not allow her hold on Ven to slacken. And as unconsciousness overcame her, her body unable to withstand the punishment any longer, her heart whispered…

Ven will always remind me of you.

END

Thank You

~Alacquiene~