To think that this fic was meant to be DRABBLES and that it reaches now its 10th chapter... Also, I have an announcement to make at the end of the chapter! As always, thank you so much for your kind words!

Everything around seemed fine, Aqua thought as she finished inspecting the Dwarf Woodlands. Master Eraqus had sent her on patrol there, to check if anything was wrong. She had met and destroyed a few Unversed (and mentally addressed an apology to Vanitas if he had felt any pain for that), but everything else was peaceful and quiet. She even had met Snow White, now married to the Prince and enjoying every second of her life, and that warmed Aqua's heart.

She heard the now familiar sound of a dark corridor opening, and she turned to the direction of the sound. She happily ran towards the silhouette emerging from the Darkness. He was still wearing his helmet, and the way he walked was a bit off. Still, she saw his shoulders relax when he noticed her, and he tilted his head – even with the helmet on, she knew from his pose how contemptuous his expression was.

"Have I made myself so indispensable to you, so that you can't stop yourself from stalking me? Girl, can't spend a day without seeing me, can you? No wonders though, I'm just so much more interesting than the losers you spend your time with."

"Hey! I know you do not like them, but please refrain yourself from insulting them in front of me. They still are my friends."

He shrugged, probably not caring at all, and Aqua sighed. He still wasn't removing his helmet, and she bit her tongue to not tell him that was rude.

"Hey, Aqua..." he finally said after she probably stared at him for too long, "would you mind... Healing me?"

"Of course! Just show me where you're hurt!"

She knew his suit was actually made of darkness, much like his helmet, and that he could just repair any damage made to the suit with his will, or remove some bits of it, so she didn't blink when some parts of the suit and his helmet turned into a dark steam, vanishing into the air.

However, she did blink when she saw the actual wounds. She didn't even know how he had managed to act so naturally, when he probably shouldn't even be conscious anymore.

They both had a silent agreement: she would never ask whenever he would came back from his training with many wounds, his helmet almost broken, his face bruised. Aqua disapproved strongly the methods his Master would use to teach him, but just as she disliked when he was rude about her friends, she knew criticizing his mentor would just make him angry. She always healed him without a word.

But this time, it was different. Master Xehanort's training would leave him bruised, with cuts all over his body, but never anything that would endanger his life. The wounds there were deep, massively bleeding, and she was pretty sure that was a rib poking out of that torso wound (still attached to the rest, thought Aqua, the skin was just really thin there). The cut on his leg just had missed the artery. His left arm was limp. And the bruises on his neck, caused by the helmet, just showed how terrible his face would have ended up had he not worn his head protection.

She broke their silent promise. Those weren't "educational" wounds. They had been meant to kill him.

"What did your Master try to teach you, to injure you so badly?"

When she expected him to frown, he actually smirked.

"No luck, the old man has nothing to do with that, for once. I just happened to meet an old acquaintance while I was letting my cute little Unversed get some fresh air in the Castle of Dreams."

Aqua froze. Master Eraqus had sent her to the Dwarf Woodlands, while he was training Ventus. But he also had sent Terra to check on Cinderella's world. The Castle of Dreams.

"Terra..." softly whispered Aqua, almost unconsciously. Vanitas's grin grew wider, prouder.

"I don't know what you told him, but at least he understood something had happen, because he was angry beyond reason even before I could start talking! Of course, I then started teasing him and he got even angrier, I swear I could feel the Darkness stirring in him! That's the first time he looks so determined to kill me. That was pretty thrilling!"

He laughed then winced at the pain. Aqua was doing her best at healing him, letting the magic of the Curaga close his wounds, but they were deep and it was taking some time. She gave him a Potion to dull the pain, and he drank it before continuing his story.

"You must wonder how I escaped from your angry living god, right? Ouch!" she touched one of the bruise on his neck on purpose. "Fine. From your friend. It was quite easy, really. I just invoked as many Unversed as I could, and since they are born from Negativity and I don't really feel any kind of positivity or even neutrality towards him, as many as I could means a lot. While he was overwhelmed, although not overpowered I'm afraid, I bravely ran away in order not to die. And voilà!"

He looked happy, his eyes shining and his cheeks flushed, as if all of that really amused him. As if it was just a game. As if it was fun.

Aqua missed the fun in all of that. She was sad. She was not angry at Terra, who simply did what he felt was right, and not angry at Vanitas, who always tried to push everyone to their limits. But she was sad, because Terra had meant the world to her from the day she met him all those years ago, and Vanitas was now an equivalent part of her life and her heart and he meant just as much, and yet there was nothing she could do to stop them from trying to kill each other.

And she knew that if one of them died, all the Curaga in the world couldn't heal her broken heart.

"Vanitas, I think it's time to move on to another lesson."

Curious, he raised an eyebrow.

"From now on, and until you have mastered it, I will teach you how to Cure yourself. I can't let you die in a fight."

Damn you, Vanitas, don't you think putting your life in danger is a game è_é

That's the beginning of the second arc! The first one was the Reading Arc, and we are now entering the Curing Arc.

Also, I know 'educational wounds' are mentioned here, but please know (although I hope it was obvious) that I do not support this kind of education, okay? There is always a peaceful way and violence is no solution. I thought it would still be worth mentioning.

Now time for the announcement! SaphirActar and I have been working on something fun for December : A Prompt Advent Calendar! We gave each other 24 themes, as well as some specific rules (including imposing a ship on each other ;) ), and we will be posting them once a day starting December 1st!
Mine are KH related and in English, while hers, also KH related (and probably Voltron as well, she's working on two calendars!), will be in French. If you can read French, go read hers as well! (I am so excited to read what she wrote with the themes I gave to her... Especially with the ship I chose for her!)