Hey everyone! Sorry for waiting so long to put out the chapter, but I really had to think about how I was going to progress the story from here. I also honestly needed some rest from writing this series as I felt my energy draining every time I tried to approach the keyboard until now. This chapter can be interpreted in many ways, thinking back to it, but either way, I hope you look forward to what's in store.

Aang and Aqua were standing in a large stone arena on top of a tall plateau, surrounded by nothing except a steep fall on all sides. Wildlife had take over almost all of the other plateaus around them, but this training ground seemed to be very well maintained despite its age. Aqua, looking around at her surroundings, wished she had her Armor to fight with, but as long as she had Eraqus' keyblade, she'd be able to deal with any aerial assault the Avatar could throw at her. She knew her student was already incredibly powerful, but she needed to fathom some idea of what his strengths and weaknesses were if she ever hoped to teach him.

"Let us begin," Master Aqua spoke, summoning the Master Keeper to her side, "do not hold back."

"I understand," Aang nodded, "but are you sure this is ok?"

"It's fine. Besides, you'll need to know what it feels like to fight a Keyblade Master if you hope to confront Xehanort…and survive." In truth, Aqua felt like the Avatar was the only other person capable of defeating Xehanort beside herself; his training wasn't only important, but was vital to their success. With that said, however, Aqua wouldn't be able to live herself either if he died because of her struggle against the old master, and this world seemed to need him more than she did. He needed to fight now just to win, but to survive.

Aang stepped into a heavy stance, waiting for Aqua to move. Aqua stood there silently, breathing, waiting for Aang's first move. Time passed. The wind picked up around them, blowing stray leaves from the neighboring plateaus. Their bison and Momo watched from a distance on another plateau, resting nearby a tree.

After a minute passed, Aqua's eyebrow raised questionably.

"Are you going to make a move?"

"I was waiting for you," Aang responded, "I don't like fighting offensively."

"Oh, I see…me neither," Aqua wasn't sure how to proceed. Neither of them wanted to make the first move.

"How about a coin toss?" Aang suggested. He pulled out a copper piece and etched a mark on one side by bending the copper to make a dot.

"You can bend the metal?" Aqua asked.

"My earthbending teacher, Toph, showed me how to metalbend a little," Aang mentioned casually. Aqua took note of this and thought more carefully as to how to approach the Avatar.

"I'll take heads," Aang pointed at his bald head with a goofy smile. Aqua chucked at the gesture, waving her hand.

"Then I'll take tails," she nodded, wishing she had something to point at. Aang flicked the coin into the air and the two of them returned to their stances. As the coin landed…

[Dark Impetus – Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]

"Tails!" Aqua launched herself at the Avatar with a strike to his side, who inadvertently summoned his Keyblade in staff form to block. Aqua let loose a barrage of close quarters attacks, a method more suited to Terra's strength, but she knew that the moment she made this a long range battle, it would most likely be over. Aang only barely managed to block each and every strike and was attempting to step back, but Aqua kept up the pressure, pushing him closer and closer to the edge. Her seemingly superhuman speed with the Keyblade placed Aang at a stalemate, but as soon as she charged her keyblade in electricity to launch another strike, Aang took advantage of the small opening and airbended the ground to get himself to the other side of the arena. Aqua managed to preserve the charge in her Keyblade and cart wheeling over to Aang, she tried to launch a quick counter, but Aang was faster. Unleashing a powerful gale of airbending, Aqua was forced to take the defensive, plunging her Keyblade into the ground before she flew off the edge.

Aang continued the pressure, launching airbending attacks one after another, leaving Aqua at a stalemate. Aqua, however, considered using this as an advantage. Casting a barrier behind herself, Aang's airbending was reflected behind Aqua, giving her a tailwind to use when she charged at him, her Keyblade covered in fire. Aang intercepted the attack with his staff, but managed to use the fire to his advantage. He withdrew his Keyblade staff before Aqua could strike again, taking the fire with it, and focused his fire at the tip of the staff. When Aqua launched another attack, Aang amplified the fire, creating enough force to knock Aqua back. Aang then began earthbending the ground, launching himself up into the air to gather the air around him for another powerful blast.

Aqua knew she couldn't continue this deadly dance with Aang and decided to charge a light attack in the meanwhile, an attack she knew he couldn't deflect or dodge in his position. When Aang unleashed his gale, Aqua quickly summoned a Reflectga, sending the wave of air back at him. While Aang was able to break the air attack with his bending, the light attack Aqua followed up with could hardly be deflected by anything but magic. Aang was overwhelmed by the light attack, falling to the ground. Aqua used this time to cast a Curaga on herself while charging up another light attack.

But just when she thought it was over, Aang shook the earth underneath her, causing for the ground beneath him to throw her off balance. Using the momentum to stage a counterattack, Aang began shooting fireballs at Aqua, knocking her back a few steps with uneasy deflections. Aang followed up by kicking boulders up from the ground, crescent moon kicking them her way, a slow but effective attack. Aqua realized that deflecting the boulders would strain her physical ability, so forced to used her charged light, she unleashed another beam of light, super-heating the rocks, causing them to break apart mid-air. Aang used this chance to further the distance between him and Aqua, shooting a volley of fireballs at her every time she attempted to close the gap. Once far away enough, Aang bended the air around him, creating a defensive shield to prepare more powerful airbending attacks.

Aqua knew she needed to act quickly and the only elements she seemed to really have up her sleeve were light and electricity...although those elements could also prove useful. She needed to divert his attention and lower his guard…or rather she needed to overwhelm him somehow for all of that to fall into place. If there was a way to get him to use water as well…then Aqua would definitely have an opening. She looked over at the waterfall falling from one of the larger plateaus. Maybe she could get him over there…?

Aqua began charging electricity into her Keyblade regardless, wanting to make the Avatar believe she was preparing another direct assault. Behind her back, however, her other hand began charging light. She needed time and this stalemate would have to be enough for now. Aang was just about prepared for his attack and she was ready to do something risky, hoping it would work. Charging at the Avatar, Aqua touched both of her hands onto the Keyblade just as Aang launched a huge wave of air.

"Gravity!" Aqua casted Graviga at the last possible moment, using the gravitational field to take the blast of air down with it. Aang was stunned, giving Aqua enough time to use her charged light to let loose a barrage of physical light attacks, Ars Arcanum, hitting Aang directly and knocking him off the field. Landing on the platform, Aqua was genuinely afraid she had just sent the Avatar to his death and threw her Keyblade into the air, summoning her – or rather, Mater Eraqus' – vessel, a vessel similar to Terra's in style except white in composition.

[Avatar vs Ozai – Avatar Soundtrack]

Just as she was about to rush after Aang, however, an orb of air was ascending quickly into the sky. Having entered the Avatar state, Aang eyes were white with power, his Keyblade staff at his side as he summoned a ring of fire, earth, and from the waterfall nearby, water to his side. Aqua was astounded by the Avatar, wielding four elements at the same time with no effort, and few away before she could get hit by a powerful fire attack.

Jetting away, Aqua casted Stopga on Aang, using the time to put distance between them. This did not last long. Aang caught up to her with minimal effort, barraging her vessel with earth pellets to overwhelm her. Aqua tried to cast Triple Firaga to knock him off balance, but the firebending attacks he sent her way were far superior in power and nearly accomplished knocking Aqua out of the sky. Attempting to launch a Thundaga, Aqua's accuracy was hardly helpful as the Avatar dodged quickly using his air pocket to jet upward, putting enough distance between them before launching a water whip to catch her midair. With nowhere to run, Aqua casted Stopga once more and threw a fire spell to dissipate the water whip temporarily so she could fly away and assess the situation. Succeeding, Aqua hit the accelerator hard, using the momentum to build up light energy in the process. When Stopga ran out, Aqua turned around with astonishing agility and fired a barrage of light beams at the Avatar. Just when the tide of battle seemed to have turned, the Avatar deflected each of the small beams, not with the elements, but with simple blocks. Light was no longer a threat to the Avatar, or at least when he was in the Avatar State.

"I'm just thankful he doesn't know how to use a Keyblade yet," Aqua huffed to herself as she floored the accelerator, using the swiftness and agility of her vessel to zigzag in the sky, making herself a difficult target to hit as the Avatar failed to hit her with any of his fire or air attacks. She quickly learned that he could only accelerate linearly and agility was the key to checking his speed, but that's all she could do. She couldn't overwhelm him and attacking conventionally was nigh impossible. The environment left her at an incredible disadvantage, although neither her nor the Avatar suspected the fight would get this intense, and she was running out of options. The situation only grew worse as Aang began manipulating the air itself to create turbulence, nearly knocking her vehicle around in the process as he closed the distance between them. Aqua came up with a risky plan, however, and she still had an ace up her sleeve. She lured the Avatar back to the arena on her vessel, passing over the arena before coming to a stop at the other side. With the Avatar in pursuit, she gathered as much energy as she could muster, ready for the onslaught. Charging at the Avatar head on, she fired a large beam of light from her vessel, an attack the Avatar only had seconds to redirect. Using this opening, she reverted her Vessel back into Keyblade form and in seconds, used the charged energy to strike at the ring of water surrounding the avatar. Electricity shot through the water, discharging Aang's elemental bubble, knocking him back from the impact and creating a cloud of steam with it. This, however, had unintended consequences to Aqua, who was knocked back by the blast as well. Seconds from impact, she uses Magnega in an unorthodox manner, using the pull to let her Keyblade hover in position before jumping back onto the plateau. Hitting the ground and with Keyblade in hand, Aqua was ready to fall over, but the fight wasn't over.

It didn't take long for Aang to charge Aqua, fire blazing at the tip of his Keyblade staff as he attempted to overwhelm her with raw power. This gave Aqua a chance to cast a long range Blizzaga, aiming at Aang's feet to throw him off balance. With little energy left and as a last resort measure, Aqua casted mines around herself, hoping to cast a Faith attack strong enough that Aang couldn't deflect the light. She didn't have enough time. Aang launched himself into the air using the earth and air around him to dive at her with his Keyblade staff, fire blazing from the tip once again.

Master…how can I win? How can I prove to Aang that I'm a worthy Master?

Master…

Master Keeper…

Maybe…

"Master, I hope this will work," she pressed the buttons on her sleeve, having faith that her Master's keyblade could yield something. Just as Aang launched the attack, a barrier of light surrounded Aqua, throwing him back in surprise. Aang's eyes stopped glowing, although remaining in the Avatar State regardless, to witness what was going on before him. The light surrounding Aqua began producing chains made of light, which wrapped around her in a spiral. Armor materialized around Aqua answering her call, the Master Keeper's call: the Armor of the Master.

[Master Tell me the Truth – Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep]

With the Mark of Mastery symbol at its core, the bronze and silver armor encased Aqua, the spiky gold ridges and reinforcing black armor becoming more apparent as the light dissipates. With a white wheel of light on its back, Aqua was overwhelmed by the sheer power the Armor granted her. She needed to believe in this power if she was going to win; she'd need to tame it for herself.

The Armor was insanely fast and was capable of gliding, letting Aqua move behind Aang before he had a chance to react. Launching several volleys of light, Aqua bonded the Avatar in chains, holding him in place before hitting him with a supercharged Blizzaga attack. Knocking the Avatar down, however, didn't last long. Using the Avatar State to its full capacity, Aang bended a large tornado around himself, prepared to knock back the Armored Aqua with every ounce of power he had. Swiftly moving to another plateau, Aqua launched her light chains into the plateau, holding herself firmly in place. Then, with a several green rings of light forming around her, Aqua focused all her power at Aang, hoping the light would be powerful enough for even the Avatar to fall to. Unleashing her energy just as Aang was nearly upon her, the Avatar moved to deflect the light only to be hit directly by its power, knocking the Avatar out of the sky. Aang managed an aerial recovery and soon unleashed a large flash of fire, and with Aqua chained down to the earth, she was forced to take the attack directly as well, knocking her back into a neighboring plateau. Patching herself up with Curaga, Aqua launched a series of light chain attacks, but the Avatar launched himself at her with incredible speed, grabbing her armor in his hand.

"This ends it," Aang tried to bend the metal, but found himself unable to.

"What? But I thought?!" Aang was astounded. He tried to put distance between himself and Master Aqua, but…

"This ends here!" Aqua shouted as she bound Aang with the Armor's light chains. Then, charging at him, she used Spell-weaver attacks to strike at him while still bound, the Master Keeper flying out of her hand to slash at him continuously. Knocking him into the plateau, Master Aqua charged her Keyblade with light, hitting him with a finishing Ragnarok attack as the beams of light converged on him, sapping what little energy he had left. Aang fell out of the Avatar state, his hands up in surrender, panting heavily.

"I see…I still have a long way to go, huh?" Aang smiled, "that's good to know."

[End music]

"How come?" Aqua descended to the ground, curious to his answer.

"It means I can still improve," Aang responded, "the monks taught me that one of the greatest treasures in life is knowing you can always improve."

"I see," Master Aqua dismissed the Armor of the Master, its light dissipating in the air. She smiled at Aang.

"I guess that means I've got a long way to go myself."

The sun was starting to set in the distance and from weariness, Aqua dropped next to Aang in exhaustion. Not speaking, they simply kneeled there for a minute, catching their breath. Aqua then lifted her Keyblade to cast Curaga on both of them, the warm green healing glow shrouding them in relief and comfort.

"Ah…that feels much better," Aang sighed, "I never faced anyone like you before…and I'm thankful that you are a friend…and my Master." Aang bowed out of respect for her, which made Aqua smile in relief.

"Thank you, Avatar Aang. I know there are many things you can teach me as well. I look forward to it," Aqua returned his bow. The two of them shared a smile, one of camaraderie and hope for the future. As the sun set, however, a worried expression crossed Aang's face.

"It makes me worry how powerful Xehanort is…" Aang spoke.

"Then why don't you ask him yourself?" Another voice intervened. Aang and Aqua turned around and Aqua's eyes froze in horror. She panicked to get back up as a boy, no older than sixteen, with long grey hair, tan skin and amber eyes walked up to them. He wore a black and white, sleeveless hoodie over a black tee-shirt with baggy dark blue pants, black wristbands, and chest bands with the Master's symbol in the middle, similar to the one Aqua and her friends wore.

"You…you can't be…" Aqua looked at the boy in horror.

"I am," he simply put, "I am Xehanort. Actually, I'm the furthest incarnation of him from the past, to be exact." To Aqua's shock, Xehanort summoned his Keyblade, the Kingdom Key, and dropped it right in front of him.

"I have no interest in fighting you," he raised his hands above his head. His eyes blinked, his amber eyes replaced with green.

"Rather, I have a proposal."

Hope you enjoyed!