Vanitas tried to sleep, but it was difficult with that hovering orb of Fira flickering to the beat of Aqua's dreams. Or nightmares, more likely. Panting gasps escaped her lips at irregular intervals, and she curled up on her side with her knees tucked to her chest. The blue and pink skirt-thing flared out over her legs and the ground like a ragged blanket.

He didn't realize he was staring until she shifted uncomfortably and ended up facing him. He quickly shoved his helmet over his head, but her eyes were still closed. Might as well leave it on, though, in case she did wake up.

Her arm relaxed from hugging her knees and brushed against something hanging from the belt holding up her skirt. Instantly her fingers curled around it, and the Fira calmed as her now-smiling lips parted in a whisper.

"Terra… Ven…"

The hairs on the back of Vanitas's neck stood up when he heard the names. Maybe he didn't want her broken completely, but she shouldn't be whole enough to care about those idiots. What was that thing she was holding?

He tried to get a closer look, but her hand was clutched too tightly around it. He didn't have to see it to smell the fresh scent billowing off it, or to notice the soft white glow through her fingers.

Vanitas looked up at the cliff ledges surrounding them and cursed.

"Get up." He shook Aqua as calmly as he could, considering there were hundreds of glowing yellow eyes staring down at them.

The Heartless slowly advanced, their movements halting and confused. Vanitas wasn't worried for himself, but if they tried to take away the one semi-interesting thing in the Realm of Darkness, they were going to lose their worthless non-existences.

"Shh," she whispered, eyes still closed. "It's not morning yet, Ven…"

"I am not Ven," Vanitas growled, kicking the blue-haired girl in the side.

She was lucky he pulled the kick slightly at the last minute. He didn't care if she was dreaming or not. No one called him Ven.

That finally woke her up, and the light from whatever she was holding went out. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the Heartless from jumping, crawling, and/or flying down the cliffs to find out where the light had gone. Vanitas could still smell the sweet scent on her skin.

"Forget this." He summoned a Bruiser to scoop up the confused Aqua before any Heartless could attack her. His Bruiser kept itching to crush her, too, and Vanitas's attention was split between destroying Heartless and keeping the Unversed in check.

"She's mine," he hissed, slicing through a Darkball that tried to chomp her.

After several minutes of slashing and bashing, the remaining Heartless finally got the hint and slunk back to whatever holes they had come from.

"Idiots," Vanitas spat, dispelling his keyblade.

"Rah!" He finally heard Aqua shout, stabbing her own blade through the Bruiser's chest and falling to the ground when it disappeared. "Nnghh…"

"I'm sure you put so much thought into that." He rolled his eyes, not even flinching as his negativity returned. "You slept long enough. We're leaving."

"Why did those Heartless attack?" Aqua demanded, even though she was currently crumped on the ground, in no position to demand anything of anyone. "You said this suit would protect me."

Vanitas cocked his head, finally getting a good look at the object hanging from Aqua's hip. It was a metal-rimmed, stained glass star, simple but elegant in design. A silver Keyblade Wielder symbol held it together in the middle. The lighter blue color of the glass clashed with the darker shade of her new suit.

Aqua's eyes narrowed, but before she could say anything, Vanitas told her, "That thing attracted them. It has too much light."

"Huh…? Oh." Her fingers held the star-shaped charm tenderly. Vanitas's skin crawled. "The spell I put on it…"

"Get rid of it," Vanitas ordered.

"What?" Aqua balked. "There's no way I would do that!"

"It's attracting Heartless. You'll get us killed."

"It saved me from them once," she argued. "That's more than this suit has done."

Vanitas growled at the insult. "My suit is worth way more than some stupid charm!"

Aqua's face twisted furiously.

"I made that 'stupid charm' myself, and it holds a bond that can't be broken! A bond between me and my friends!"

Vanitas scowled under his mask.

"And where are those friends now?"

He knew he'd struck a nerve when she grimaced and froze up, hand over her chest, where a dark mist wafted off of her suit. Her anger and the darkness must be woven together more tightly than he thought. It probably didn't help that she'd never had so much of either to restrain before.

"They're… safe…"

Maybe he didn't want her consumed by darkness, but driving a spike through the heart of her friendships brought him a sick glee. He laughed in a way that could only be described as demented.

"You call being in an eternal coma 'safe'? Or wandering the worlds with Xehanort hiding in your heart, is that safe? Face it, Aqua, all you did was get yourself stuck down here where you can't help either of them. But maybe you're better off this way. At least they can't take anything else from you."

She was breathing heavily, clutching her star-shaped charm in one hand, the other still trying to hold in the darkness leaking out of her chest.

"They never took anything from me. I always gave from the light in my heart… something you wouldn't understand."

"And why would I want to?" Vanitas retorted.

Her darkness faded again, and her voice steadied.

"So you could be loved," she said with surprising calm.

Vanitas blinked, but to her his face would appear as unreadable as ever. Thank the Void for his mask.

"Aqua, you don't know anything about darkness."

"I know more about darkness than you do about light."

"I know plenty about light," he argued.

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Then tell me, what does it feel like when light touches your heart?"

What light felt like in his heart? There was only one time he had felt that—as he united with Ventus. But that one time was burned vividly into his memory.

"It stabs like a hundred needles of fire embedding themselves in your soul," Vanitas began in a slow cadence, voice low. "It burns like your whole existence is being consumed, like you're nothing, like you're less than nothing…"

And it was the best moment of his sick life.Not that he would ever admit that to Aqua.

The light had torn him apart, put him back together again, and—once Ventus was gone—left him just as empty as before. Light never stayed. And it could never be trusted.

Vanitas turned away from Aqua before she could argue any further.

"I plan on actually getting somewhere today. Try to keep up."