Time to break the suspense (can you break suspense? Meh. I can.)
He should have known something was off. She sometimes was late, but after twenty minutes, he should have known. But instead, he simply decided to take a nap on the grass. And when he heard footsteps coming, he thought it was her.
"What took you so long? I was almost about to..."
But no one would know what he was about to do, because two blades landed on each side of his head, crossing as if to make some very dangerous scissors around his neck. Not Aqua, then. He let out a cruel laugh.
"You know, if you guys wanted a pair of sharp scissors blades, you could just have let me forge the X-Blade. It would have made everyone happy."
"What are you doing on this land, Vanitas?"
Unmoving, his helmet hiding his face, he smirked and made sure his voice would carry the expression.
"Oh come on. Surely you must know already, if you both are here. So what, Daddy is unpleased his little girl hangs out with a bad boy? That's too bad. If only you knew all we have already done together... Ugh!"
He was interrupted by Terra's foot violently landing on his stomach. The sudden pain almost folded him in half - his neck would have been welcomed by the blades, so he was glad he had some self control.
"Silence, you freak. Say anything else inappropriate about Aqua and I will finish you off myself."
"Oh? So that what you came here for? You must be so disappointed."
"I don't know how you have corrupted her, but this will stop right away, Vanitas. I made it clear before you were not welcome there. Why couldn't you just stay away?"
"Corrupted her? Please, give her a little bit more credit than that. How can you be surprised that, after raising such a nice and polite girl, she actually shows kindness to both allies and foes? Shouldn't you be proud to see how full of Light Aqua is?"
He was welcomed by another kick from Terra. This time, he had to stop his motion an inch away from the blades.
"I don't ever want to hear you say her name. Don't sully her name."
Vanitas let out a deep sigh. He didn't know how Aqua managed not to suffocate with these two around. No wonder she escaped so often to her secret clearing. Suddenly, he realized that this place wasn't secret anymore. Sure, it stopped being secret the moment he got there, but it was still their place. The place she'd teach him the names of the stars, the name of the letters, how they could be stitched together to form words. And that made him angry, more than the kicks Terra was giving him, more than the stifling relationship her master forced on her.
"Sully her name? Have no worries, she probably calls my name more than yours... Why don't you have a look at her notepad? You'll see she had written mine over and over."
Terra was about to kick him in the face (and Vanitas knew that even with the helmet, that would hurt) when a voice yelled at them to stop. Vanitas relaxed a little, and Terra felt that. The young man crushed Vanitas's fingers, so subtly it could almost have looked like an accident.
"Master, Terra, what is the meaning of this?"
"I could be asking the very same to you, Aqua. You have disappointed me."
"How so? How could I disappoint you if you judge without asking for an explanation? How could I disappoint you if you have no idea of what is going on?"
Eraqus picked his blade up the ground. Vanitas let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Terra's face still dissuaded him from moving, but at least he did not have those dangerous scissors upon his throat anymore. Not that the master wasn't a threat, though.
"Aqua, you should know that Vanitas is our enemy. He is not welcome here, he knows it and you know it too. You should have told us. But now he should be punished for disobeying, I had warned him before. My sentence... Is death!"
Vanitas held a smirk. How dramatic the man was, pausing his sentence at the right moment, and raising his blade above his head at the word death. There was no denying he grew up with the old geezer, in the end they talked the very same way.
Busy acting all dramatic, he probably did not notice Aqua moved towards him. She did not run, she calmly walked to them, and she acted so naturally Vanitas barely paid attention to that. But when she stopped in front of him, he could not really not see her.
She took her master's blade, and once again, moved so naturally that no one reacted. She put the tip of the weapon on her chest and stared at the man.
"You want to kill him? Do it. But please be aware that this means you will probably have to kill me first. Vanitas is my guest, and as long as I am here, nobody is allowed to hurt him. Surely you understand, Master Eraqus, Terra?"
Terra tried to protest, but her deadly serious face shut him up. Eraqus looked at Aqua for a very long time, before sighing and moving his keyblade away.
"Very well. But this was my last warning. If I ever see you again, Vanitas, whether it is in this world or any other world, you will die. Are we clear, Aqua? That monster is not allowed here anymore. Now you cannot pretend you didn't know."
Vanitas could see how Aqua's back relaxed a bit, although her face still showed how furious she was. She threw Terra's keyblade back to its owner with no delicacy, and helped Vanitas back to his feet.
"I think it's time for you to go, Vanitas. It has been a pleasure. Accept my apologies for the treatment you received here. Since I cannot guarantee your safety on this land anymore, it's best if you don't come back."
No matter how neutral and cold she tried to be, he could still see the tears she was holding in. He opened a Corridor behind him and slowly stepped back to it, refusing to turn his back on them. Just before disappearing, he cheerfully yelled.
"See you around, losers! Try to think who the real monster was in that story, though." and then, in a smaller voice, almost a whisper, "and thank you for your teachings, Aqua."
Did she hear him? He couldn't tell, but the last thing he saw before letting the darkness surround his body was a single tear running down her cheek.
Oh dear I cannot blame Terra but I hate Eraqus.
Feel free to leave a review~*