FIFTEEN CHAPTERS? I would have never thought this fic would be so long when I started it. And it's not even over. So thank you so much for your support and your patience
Aqua met Vanitas in Neverland two days later, as it was planned. He was waiting in a cave by the Mermaids' lagoon, his book on his lap.
"''ssup?" He greeted her without looking up from the pages, full of drawings of constellations. He was still wearing his helmet, and she wondered if he ever took it off in front of other people. Probably at least in front of Xehanort.
"Hello. How is it going on with the book? Any word you need some help with?"
He closed the book and turned his head right to her. Even with the helmet, she could feel his golden eyes pierce her skin.
"You do not want to talk about the book, do you? So let's jump straight to the point, shall we?"
She held his gaze (or supposed she was holding it anyway) and took a deep breath.
"Very well. Did you tell your Master that Ven ventured outside?"
"I did. Are you mad at me?"
"I don't know. I am angry, and sad. But probably not at you."
"Then at whom?"
"I'm not sure myself. At fate, who made us rivals. At this world, where Light and Darkness need to fight to keep the balance. Perhaps a bit at our Masters, who refuse to see that peace could exist between our camps. At myself, for having brought yet another danger on Ven. And yes, perhaps at you as well, for being a part of that danger." She sat on the stone, next to him. "I'm just tired. I sometimes wish that we never became friends. I suppose it would be easier."
"Then should we stop being friends? Go back to our fighting and hating routine?" His tone was taunting, but she could hear in his voice that her answer mattered.
"Of course not. That's not of the heart works anyway. I can't just stop loving someone. Whether it's my Master, Ventus, Terra, or you. You all are too precious to lose."
"Looks like having a heart sucks!"
"I guess it does, sometimes." she admitted, as they both softly chuckled.
"But enough with that! Any difficulties with your reading?"
"Nope, so far so good! I don't have much time to read, though." His helmet was slowly fading, showing his sparkling eyes. "But I've had time for something else, though! Gimme your hand!"
She did, curious. He opened the book, took her palm in his hand, and suddenly rubbed one of the pages against her fingers. She felt the prickling of the papercut and winced.
"Vanitas, what exactly are you..."
"Shh, I'm focused here! Keep quiet!"
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and Aqua suddenly recoiled as a dark mist covered her fingers. But Vanitas was holding her hand firmly and he did not let go. After a few seconds, the mist vanished, and so was the papercut.
"I can now use Cure!" He looked so proud she couldn't help but smile, although she could not forget how the spell reeked of Darkness.
"That was... a Cure?"
"Yup! Not like yours, I know. But after a lot of training, I realised that I couldn't make a spell based solely on good feelings. That's not in my nature. So instead, I put into it the memory of pain, the regret that came with it, and how I wanted it to be gone, and I finally managed to pull that up! I'm calling it Dark Cure."
"You had time... To create your own spell?"
"Have you seen who I'm training with? Please. He's given me so many opportunities to use that spell that I eventually figured out what would work. I probably used more Cures in that week than you in your whole life."
Aqua did not know whether to be proud or uneasy by his words. It sounded to natural to him, to have a Master who beat him up.
"Don't make that face! I still need to learn Cura and Curaga. Unless I only fight opponents who kindly graze my skin, there's no way I'd survive someone strong. So let's go back to business! I will have to make up my own Dark Cura I guess, but at least teach me the basics!"
And she did. He repeated the steps a few times, then said he would need to think about how to make the spell his own.
They studied a bit of his book afterwards. He told him about constellations he could now recognize and how different they looked from a world or another. She told him a few legends she knew about some worlds.
When came the time for her to go, he caught her wrist.
"Hey, Aqua. I get what you said, about being angry at this world and at the roles we have to play in it. Still... Still, I'm glad that's how things are, because in other circumstances, I would never have existed, and we would never have been friends."
She softly smiled as she turned her keyblade into a Glider and summoned her armour. She waved him goodbye, hearing his last words as she left.
"But how come I don't want to lose you, when I don't have a heart to start with?"
Don't you worry, Vanitas, this is Kingdom Hearts. Nobody ever understood what a heart was. Seriously, just ask Sora.
Also, the reason he gave for coming to the Dwarf Woodlands in last chapter was only half true : had it been Terra, he would have enjoyed fighting him, but if it were Aqua, he was planning to tell her about the Cure (but Ven's presence changed his plans). And yes, he told Xehanort about it :( He probably thought Aqua or Ventus would tell Eraqus about that as well. But even if he knew he wouldn't regret it. That's just his job.
See ya!