This gold-eyed monster wasn't Aqua. That twisted grin, the sick glee in her eyes as she choked the life out of him—it wasn't her. It wore her face, but it wasn't. The smell was all wrong. Rather than clean cotton, sludge and mold suffocated him as surely as her grip.

It was this fact that gave him the strength to break through his panic and cast Aeroga.

Aqua nearly took his throat with her as she was flung back, crashing against a boulder. The yell of pain that escaped her mouth sounded so much like her. He cringed, resisting the urge to run to her side.

His mind was still reeling. That voice was the Dark Wind for sure. How had he let it deceive him? He should have known. He had known, known there had to be more to its plan than the sporadic whispers in the dark.

He had let himself grow careless, and now Aqua would pay the price for it.

Dark smoke leaked from her limp form. Ignoring his better judgement, he ran to her. The smoke swirled around her, growing until it became a raging storm. He summoned his mask and gritted his teeth against it, pressing onward.

"Aqua!" he yelled. "Please! Tell me you're in there!"

The monster wearing Aqua's body stood. Suddenly he wondered if this was how she had felt, watching him possess Ventus. If she'd felt half of the horror and fury he did now, then she had every reason to hate him.

"Oh, she issss. Though not for long. Your friend hasssss sssserved her purpossssse."

"Oh yeah?" he yelled, hoping he could keep it talking, give him time to come up with a plan. "And what's that?"

It chuckled. It wasn't Aqua's laugh, just like the voice wasn't her voice. Smooth and serpentine as before, it stuck daggers in his heart.

"To be our vesssssel to the Light, of coursssse."

"Your vessel—! You let her go! She's mine, you freak!"

Freak. Aqua had called him that once. All of this was so wrong. Why had it picked her?

Why hadn't it possessed him? He was already dark. If it came to it, Aqua could have beaten him again. Destroyed him if she had to. She had always been stronger…

"Yours?" Aqua asked, and the hiss left her voice. "Oh, Vanitas. Sweet, gullible Vanitas. When have I ever been yours?"

He stepped back. No… that… that monster still had her. Maybe it could steal her voice, but Aqua… she would never say that.

Right?

His hesitation gave her opening to attack. Master Keeper filled her hand in a cloud of darkness, and a second later it was rushing towards his chest.

He cartwheeled out of the way on one hand, Void Gear flashing to the other. His mask enveloped his face, hiding the hurt there.

She didn't stop, didn't slow. Instead of utilizing her usual array of magic, she barraged him with darkness-fueled strikes. His speed barely kept him alive, and even so, slices quickly lined his suit. He'd need an opening to use Curaga soon.

Her furious attacks, punctuated with screams, left his mind no time to come up with a plan. It left his body no room to move to the offensive, either—if his writhing heart would let him. It was all he could do to parry, to hold on, to not let Unversed of sheer agony burst from him—

That gave him an idea.

He leapt almost out of range of her blade; it still nicked through his suit, cutting another red scar across the black. He funneled that pain into a group of Unversed.

Floods exploded from him, taking his pain upon themselves for the moment. They charged Aqua, responding to his mental command to immobilize her.

A wicked grin split her face. As the Floods leapt for her, they burst back into darkness. Pain engulfed him, but the Unversed themselves didn't return. What the—?

Aqua breathed in the dark blue mist his Floods had become. "Yessss, feed usss your darknessss. Give in to it. Become one of usssss."

"Yeah, how about I don't do that?"

Vanitas skipped back, wracking his brain for more ideas. His usual fallback was gone; Unversed would be useless in this fight. If the Dark Wind was anything like the giant keyblade-eating Heartless, any kind of dark attack would be useless. Judging by the sudden burst of darkness she shot towards him, it would probably only fuel her power.

All her bouts of sickness… all his effort to help her control the darkness… had this faceless monster been hiding in her heart this whole time? If he couldn't extract it before, how would he now, when it was trying to kill him?

He dove underground, hoping to get some distance, prepare himself again. But when he resurfaced, he saw Aqua bolting towards the water.

Towards the door to the light.

He cursed and cast Thundaga. Bolts rained from his keyblade, shooting towards her. He missed by a hair, but the current still paralyzed her through the water.

Of course, that meant that he couldn't stand in the water for a moment, either. He jumped and shot Aeroga towards the ground at an angle, blasting himself towards her—directly on top of her, actually. They rolled through the surf; he held his breath in spite of his mask.

Don't panic. Don't panic. DON'T PANIC.

He fought Aqua's writhing limbs and came out on top, pinning her under the shallow water. Bubbles trailed from her mouth as he gasped for breath. She didn't seem to be struggling—had he knocked her unconscious? He wanted to cast Curaga on her, make sure she was alright, but he didn't dare. If that monster made it to the Realm of Light, wearing her skin…

He pictured the Dark Wind tearing across the worlds, blocking out the sun, hissing and laughing as it suffocated every bit of light.

No more bubbles escaped her mouth. His grip loosened, but in that moment, her golden eyes shot open. She twisted, and before he could scream, he was the one pinned, trapped beneath the horrible waves.

His keyblade vanished as it was knocked from his fingers. A few Mandrakes of panic burst from him; she absorbed them as easily as the night absorbed shadows.

"You're so quick to call everyone else pathetic," she mused, staring through his helmet. He was sure that even through the thick glass, she could see his terror. "I wonder if you can see your reflection in that mask of yours. Maybe then you'd realize how pathetic you really are."

He writhed beneath her, straining his neck to keep his head above the waves. He couldn't see his own reflection, but he knew she was right. He was pathetic.

But the real Aqua never would have said so. That gave him the strength to fight, to make this demon release her. But how?

His struggling was useless, both against her weight and against the water. She held Master Keeper high above her head, ready to plunge it towards his heart. He tried to dive underground, but the water and her grip interfered; he couldn't escape.

He was going to die at the blade of his only friend, steps away from safety. Pathetic.

No—I can't die—I can't leave her like this—!

Her blade wasn't going to give him a choice. It streaked towards his chest—

And stopped.

Pain contorted Aqua's face; the angle of her stab shifted, lodging the keyblade in the sand right next to his rib cage.

"Van!" she yelled, her eyes flashing back to blue for a moment. "Please! You have to stop me! I'm trying—"

He didn't get to hear what she was trying. The gold flooded her eyes again, and she pulled the keyblade from the sand with a splash. It gave him a second to slip out from under her—a motion that, for once, the horrible water helped him with.

The door to the light still shone over the waves. She was already standing, but he was faster. If he could cross most of the distance in the air, he could get there first—

And then what? Leave her here, like this? He'd rather tear out his own heart first. The pain would be about the same.

He had to get her away from the door, away from the water, where they could have a fair fight. If he could win even then.

No, don't think like that. I don't have to beat her, I just have to get the Dark Wind out of her.

He cast Magnera, not a spell he was very good at, especially without a command in his deck. Still, it was enough to tug Aqua towards him—along with a wall of water. Skidding out of its way, he summoned Void Gear, just in time to block Aqua's downward strike.

"I know you're in there!" he yelled to her. "Tell that idiot to get out of your heart! Prove to it that your light's stronger!"

She chuckled, a deep sound that shouldn't have been able to come from her throat.

"She isss but one light. We are many darknessssss."

"Shut up!" he spat, taking the offensive with a spinning strike.

Keep it distracted; give the real Aqua time to fight it from inside. She was stronger. She was the strongest person he'd ever known.

He wished the Dark Wind couldn't use her strength against him. It released a barrage of dark orbs that homed in on him; he cartwheeled away, but one still caught him on the arm, sending him rolling across the sand.

"You fight well, but it is uselesssss," it said, casually approaching him. "You are darknessss too, yessss? Join usssss."

He dissolved his mask. He wanted this monster to see the flaming glare he'd summoned just for it.

"Never."

Aqua's face fell, as if he had hurt her. "You... don't want to join me, Van? Don't you want us to be together…?"

It was toying with his mind, he knew it. Still, he couldn't help remembering when he had thought of merging with her instead of Ventus. Was this what would have happened? Would he have turned her into a monster?

He would have. And he wouldn't have thought twice.

"I want the real Aqua," he growled, fighting back tears. "I want my friend back!"

"Don't you see, Vanitas?" she snapped. Darkness swirled around her keyblade, wafted from her shoulders. "This is who I am! This is who you made me to be!"

"Liar!" Vanitas roared, storming to his feet—

Only for her keyblade to impale his shoulder.

He screamed so loud that she actually flinched. Her blade came out of his flesh with just as much agony as it entered. Void Gear fell from his hand, joining the splatter of blood in the sand.

He collapsed in it. Shock overwhelmed him; his limbs turned to ice. All except for that one fiery blossom of pain.

"It sssseemsss I made the correct choicsssse." Aqua smirked. If he got them out of this, he swore he'd never let her smirk again. "You really are pathetic, Vanitassss."

She slammed the toe of her boot into his side, making him cry out in anguish, before turning back to the ocean. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he took advantage of the opportunity to cast a quick Curaga. His skin and suit reknit most of the way, and the fire faded to a dull ache.

Then he scrambled up just enough to tackle the backs of her knees. That would teach the Dark Wind to underestimate him.

"You know what's pathetic? You." He wrestled the monster to the ground. "You can't even get out of here without Aqua's body, can you? You're darkness. You're stuck here."

It didn't reply, instead growling ferally and trying to use Aqua's blade to gain leverage against the sand. Black smoke gusted from her arms, surrounding him in a whirlwind of foul smells.

He cursed his arrogance in dismissing his mask. The smoke invaded his lungs like a hungry parasite. His scream wasn't enough to expel it; it found its way into his blood, his heart—

Your feelingssss are ssstill ssso sssstrong…

The voice was in his head. He clutched at it, only succeeding in a ripping out chunks of his hair. Dizziness swept over him, and he collapsed on top of Aqua.

There isss darknessss here, but there isss light… more light than before… where have you found light in thisss realm?

Light. He… he had to find it…

His throat was too raw to scream. The Dark Wind tore at this fragile half-heart, examining each and every piece, ripping up memories like they were weeds. They flashed through his mind—Aqua's smile, the light in her blue eyes, her voice the first time she had called him Van...

It issss the girl, it realized. Ssssomehow, she hassss created more light in you… more for ussss to destroy…

"No," he gasped through the smoke. "My light… belongs… to me."

The voice laughed in his mind.

Not for long, it promised.

What could he do? He couldn't see. He could hardly breathe. He couldn't even cast Curaga. Aqua's unconscious form below him was his only small comfort.

I did say… that we would go down together…

His hand brushed something cold. Metal and glass—a Wayfinder. Either hers or Ventus's; he couldn't see the color. Frantic, his other hand searched for the rough-edged porcelain of his own.

There. He clasped his fingers around it, trying not to breathe. The Dark Wind was doing a good enough job invading him as it was. His skin was growing cold, then flashing hot, the way hers did when she was sick.

Please… Vanitas begged his Wayfinder. Please… I've fed so much light into you… I need it back…

Stupid. Praying to a piece of porcelain. What could it do against the crushing wind?

But then a warm glow spread through his palm, leaked through his clenched fist. His Wayfinder had answered the call.

The other one he touched followed suit—Ventus's, he could see now. Their combined warmth coursed through his body and washed his blood clean. The light that had once threatened to consume him, that had stabbed a thousand needles into his heart—it now stitched the broken pieces back together.

What… what issss thisssss?

The Dark Wind's voice trembled. Vanitas smirked.

"AEROGA!"

The smoke cleared in blast that made his ears ring. But he didn't waste any time. He moved off of Aqua and clutched her arms, vaguely registering that the veins of his suit around his hands had turned white, bleached from the power of the Wayfinders.

"Curaga! Curaga! CURAGA!" He used all three commands in his deck, not taking any risks. Smoke plumed from her with each spell he cast.

Her eyes opened. They still glinted gold.

He cursed, leaping up and leaving a faint trail of white in his wake.

"Wait, Van! It's me!" She reached for him, but he recoiled. "You did something, but it's not finished—I'm still—"

She cried out in pain, hand clutching at the space over her heart.

He looked up. The cloud of darkness he'd expelled was coalescing, growing more distinct. He recognized the tendrils leaking from it—it was preparing to attack again.

"Shut up," he told her softly, cradling her head with one hand. His other held the two Wayfinders, still burning with power.

Just enough power for one last mission.

He closed his eyes and poured the light into her. He felt it leave him, taking his momentary strength, sapping his brief surge of hope.

It would leave him empty. But in return, she would be full.

"Van—Van, what are you doing?" She gasped, feeling the light flow through her. Dark smoke now poured out of her in waves, fleeing the force that opposed it.

He smirked, though he felt like throwing up. "Saving your life."

The last tendrils of smoke left her, joining their brothers hovering in the air. At last, the gold faded from her eyes, revealing the soft blue beneath. He could have stared into those eyes forever.

If they hadn't still been in mortal danger, of course.

"Foolsssss… if you will not provide my esssscape…"

The Dark Wind swept towards the portal, skimming the water like a storm. Misty tentacles reached for the light, snaking around it. Though they couldn't seem to pierce it, dark lighting now crackled around its edges.

"Van, I think it's trying to close the door!" Aqua stood, but as she did, Vanitas lost his footing. "Van—!"

She caught him as another wave of dizziness swept over him. Channeling that much light… holding it, savoring it, and then letting it go…

"Heal!" She cast Curaga, but it barely lent him strength, not in comparison to the tempest he'd held moments before. "Heal!"

On casting the second spell, she staggered. They feel to their knees in the sand.

"Sh-shut up," he mumbled. "I didn't save you just to get yourself killed…"

She gripped his shoulders, as if she could shake the energy back into him.

"And I'm not going to let you get yourself killed, either! We have to get to the portal before it closes!"

He looked up, vision swimming. The Dark Wind filled the horizon, the portal barely a glow at its center. He wouldn't be able to make it in time, not with all that water in between.

At least, not without help.

Reaching down deep, he searched for all of the positivity he could. Fear clouded his heart; he pushed it aside. Anger at the Dark Wind was there too; he punched through it. Down below, wrapped in the center of his heart where the Wind hadn't penetrated, was an emotion that glowed like a hot coal.

It didn't surface easily. It had been compressed there for too long. But when he did pull it from its hiding place, it filled him with a new reserve of strength.

He funneled it into an Inversed. The light escaped through his palms, which had regained their red cast, and formed the largest Flood he had ever created. The pure white creature stood a head above Aqua's height.

As for the emotion itself… he didn't have the time or energy to ponder on what it was. That would only distract him right now.

The Inversed scooped them up, one in each of its skinny arms, and darted towards the water. It didn't take long for the Dark Wind to notice the sudden appearance of more light; it sent out tendrils to strike them down.

"Oh no you don't," Aqua growled.

Twisting in the Flood's grip, she called down bolts of lightning to disperse the smoke. He would've cast Aeroga to help her, but creating the Flood had taken the last of his strength. Just keeping himself securely in the Inversed's grip was almost too much.

The Flood didn't slow; it half-waded, half-ran through the deeper water, until Vanitas and Aqua's legs dragged through the ocean. All around was dark, but he fixed his sight on the light at the center of the storm.

"Sssstill fighting," the Wind hissed around them, its tone growing deeper. Aqua cast Aeroga, but it couldn't dispel the darkness long; it swirled all around them on currents of its own. "Why do you resisssst?"

"Because," Vanitas spat, "I'm sick of the darkness."

The portal appeared through the mist, a like a reverse black hole. The darkness swirled around it; it had shrunk to a circle only half his height. But it was still there.

He held his breath; even in the arms of the Flood, the water came up to his chest. Aqua had to down her last Ether to keep casting Aeroga and Thundaga, barely keeping the mist at bay.

Hold on, Aqua… Just a little farther…

"The darknesssss isss sssick of you too."

And with those words, the Dark Wind snuck through Aqua's defenses. A spike made of mist twisted around her shot of Aeroga, danced with it, and struck home.

Right at Vanitas's chest.

He gasped, losing his grip on the Flood's arm.

"Van! VAN!" Aqua screamed, pushing herself out of the Flood's protective grip. She splashed down beside him, dragging him out of the water. "Come on! You can make it!"

"No," he realized, as the mist shot ice through his veins.

Over her shoulder he could see that the light was dimming. They had seconds at most.

"But… you can."

Her eyes widened as the Flood grabbed her around the waist. "Van! No! I—I won't leave you!"

As the freezing darkness tunneled its way towards his heart, as he felt his heart shatter again within him, he smiled. Without his weight slowing it down, the Flood would make it to the portal. Aqua would live.

Now he knew what emotion the Flood was born of, the only emotion that could have obeyed his command while leaving its master to die. The emotion that, in spite of all the ways he had grown, he had still thought himself incapable of possessing.

I really am an idiot. I finally find out that I can love, and I let her get away…

Maybe… that was what made it love. That he would give her the chance to escape, let her go save her friends. Even if they were idiots and wouldn't appreciate it half as much as he would have.

She still screamed his name, even as she was dragged away, even as he sunk into the waiting ocean. For once, the cold water felt like a welcome alternative to the air above, the air that swarmed with darkness. In fact, with the water between him and the Dark Wind, the ice in his chest seemed to evaporate. Maybe the ocean wasn't so evil after all.

That was when he noticed the green glow surrounding him. Not the ocean at all, but a Curaga spell. With the burst of health, he kicked to the surface of the water and came up gasping.

The portal winked out, crushed by the looming darkness. Aqua and the Flood were nowhere to be seen. Judging by the angry roar of the Wind, they had made it.

Vanitas went so far as to laugh, though from relief or hysteria, he couldn't tell.

"Who's pathetic now?"

"YOU WILL REGRET THISSS, VANITASSSS."

The laugh died in his throat. The Wind swirled above him, a funnel cloud of lightning and death.

Aqua may have escaped, but his hell had only just begun.