I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.

Choice

Aqua landed first, rolling to her feet and running into the arena to the counter where the tournament roster was located.

"Sorry," the person working the counter said, writing on a piece of paper before slipping it into a canister and sending it up a mail shoot. "Spots are full. A little kid dressed kinda like you and claiming to be a man took the last spot."

"Where is he?" Aqua demanded.

"He went to the waiting room," the man pointed. "But you can't go in there. And no I don't mean you're not allowed. There's a barrier. Only those who's names are on the roster can get through."

"But..." she trailed off as Terra arrived.

"Listen, we need to speak with that kid," Terra said. "Do you think you could get him to come out here?"

"I could try," the man shrugged. "But I'm not forcing him. I think he's gonna be popular with the crowd. If he survives the first few rounds, that is."

As the man began to walk away, Aqua covered her mouth, trying hard not to cry at the thought of Ventus dying.

"Relax," Terra said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "This is Ventus we're talking about. He'll be fine. He's a lot stronger than we give him credit for, and far more resourceful. Nothing here is going to kill him."

Aqua nodded but remained silent. After a few minutes, the counter worker returned to his desk and Ventus walked out, stopping just inside the barrier where they couldn't grab him and drag him back.

"I'm not going home," Ventus said flatly.

"Ventus you don't know what you're getting yourself into," Terra said as he and Aqua walked over to the barrier.

"I'm going to win this tournament and prove to you that I don't need to be protected," Ventus stated. "I'll prove that I'm not a child."

"Ventus please," Aqua spoke up, stepping forward. "Don't do this. Please just come home. We can go back to how things were before. Please just don't fight in this tournament. I'm begging you."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to lie," Ventus said, glaring at her over his shoulder before walking back into the waiting area.

Aqua stared at the door for a moment before sinking to her knees.

"What did he mean lie?" Terra asked.

"Earlier I found him out where we trained before our Mark of Mastery exam and he told me that he didn't want us to treat him like a child. I admitted that it wasn't fair to him. Then, when he overheard me say that he shouldn't be allowed to fight in this tournament and reference his age, I guess he thought I meant that he shouldn't be allowed to fight because of his age."

"Did you not?" Terra asked. "Could have fooled me."

"No," Aqua said, staring at the ground. "I never meant that he was too young for this. Yes, I think he should not be here, but not because he's young. He's just...he can't win this. That's why he shouldn't be allowed to fight. Because...he's too young to die."

Terra nodded and Aqua stood.

"We should find someplace to wait," Aqua sighed. "It's going to be a while before the tournament begins."

"We should get front row seats," Terra said. "I'll bet our keyblades can break through the barrier around the arena if we really try."

Aqua smiled and nodded and they walked over to the stands where Aqua lay down on the first row, trying to go to sleep.

Ventus sat down, watching the door. When it opened, it would be his turn to fight. The waiting room was a set of rooms around the ring where the fighters would wait for their fight. Doors would open in sets of two and people would fight until only one was left. That one, would then fight the monster the counter man had mentioned was the last fight. It was supposedly a creature of unimaginable power that got stronger with each fight it won. Ventus was willing to bet it was simply a powerful Unversed that anyone had yet to be able to figure out how to kill. Maybe one that was reborn each time it was defeated unless something else happened first or unless it was hit in a certain spot.

After a bit, Ventus lay on the bed, drifting off to sleep. What felt like seconds later, a loud buzzer went off, waking him as the door opened. He sighed, swinging his feet off the bed and standing, walking out into the arena. The floor was a checker board design with each tile having a liter shade diamond inside of it. Around the arena there was a double-barrier powered by floating and moving panels, all glowing either red or blue in alternating rings forming a dome, and all shaped to look like they could be some kind of strange writing. Ventus stepped through the barrier and it solidified behind him. He looked up into the stands and saw that there were hundreds of people watching, some cheering, some silent and impassive, some with snacks, some with beer, some with massive foam fingers with one name or another on it. One held a sign that said "GO MONSTER!", and another held one that said "CRUSH 'EM ALL!"

Ventus spotted Aqua, watching him intently and worriedly. Even from a distance he could tell she had been crying. Beside her sat Terra who looked to be somewhere between impassive and angry. To Terra's other side sat Master Eraqus, who was watching Ventus with an impassive look that terrified Ventus.

Ventus looked forward again as a group of Unversed stepped through the barrier and charged at him. There were six Scrappers, two Bruisers, and three Archravens. Ventus summoned his Keyblade and flipped it around, aiming it at the Unversed and taking a breath as he focused his magic energy. Then, he began to launch fireballs. The fireballs began to blast Unversed, killing the Archravens before beginning to blast the Scrappers and Bruisers. The crowd went wild, cheering, booing, and a few trying to throw things only for it to stop against the barrier. When Ventus stopped and flipped his keyblade back around, there were five scrappers and a Bruiser left. Of those, only one Scrapper had managed to escape harm. The rest were sporting nasty burns.

Ventus rolled his eyes and sprinted forward, slashing two Scrappers before spinning around the Bruiser, avoiding a punch. Then, he slashed it up the back and spun, slashing another scrapper. The last two latched onto his hands and he slammed both into the ground, knocking them free before slashing both. When they disappeared, an opening in the barrier appeared, leading back to his room. He sighed and walked back through, hearing the crowd cheering up until his door closed and blocked out all sound.

"This is going to be easy," Ventus snorted. "If that's the best they can do, this probably won't even be enough to prove that I'm not a child. Just enough to get me in trouble."

He walked over to the bed and lay down on it. After a few minutes of not falling asleep, he sighed and stood, walking out and up to the railing around the arena, leaning against it and looking in at the fight. His mouth dropped open. Zack was fighting against a group of Unversed slightly smaller than what Ventus had fought. Ventus watched as Zack defeated Unversed after Unversed before returning to his room. The next person to walk out was none other than Hercules. Out of the other side walked a man with a short-sleeved, fur-lined jean jacket open and hanging down about to the bottom of his ribcage over a white shirt, black pants with a zipper up the outsides of the legs, black gloves, three leather straps around his left forearm, a black belt holding his pants then a second black one hanging loosely around his hips and a, "X" shaped brown one over that. The man had long brown hair and a large sword with a gun-shaped hilt.

"Who is that?" Ventus blinked.

"Don't know," Aqua's voice said from behind him, making him sigh and lower his head. "Don't worry. We're not going to force you back. But Ventus...you can't win this tournament. Please, just come home with me. I don't want to see you hurt, or worse."

"I'm staying," Ventus said. "Stay or go. It makes no difference. I'll be fighting until the end either way."

Aqua was silent as they watched the fight. For a bit, it seemed even with Hercules avoiding the sword blade and the other man being wise enough to avoid Hercules's punches. Then, the fight ended almost instantly when the man slipped past a punch and split Hercules's side wide open. He then promptly healed Hercules but Hercules forfeited, as he would have died had the man not healed him.

"You see?" Aqua asked. "That's the kind of tournament you're in. Here, people don't hesitate to kill. Anyone you fight will be trying to kill you. No matter who they are or what you do."

"You think I didn't know that?" Ventus asked pushing off the railing. "I knew what I was signing up for. That's why I signed up. I gotta go get ready. I'll see you around Aqua."

He returned to his waiting room and lay down, though, he knew he wouldn't sleep.

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