Vanitas shivered, but didn't dare wrap his arms around himself for warmth. He was too busy clinging to the side of his glider for dear life. Why in the Void had he decided to help Saix, again? The man hadn't moved since they'd entered the Lanes Between, but Vanitas was worried he would slip off of the glider at any moment. His limbs flopped over the edge, swaying limply with the glider's motion.

I've gotta land soon. Don't want to find out what happens if we fall in a place like this, now that I can't rely on the darkness to protect me…

He shivered again, from that thought as well as the cold. Even the dark corridors didn't feel as freezing. Or was that just because he wasn't wearing a full-body suit anymore? He never thought he'd miss that. Maybe he should get one of those black coats like Saix was wearing. That looked pretty warm. And it was plaid-free, too.

But outfit swaps would have to wait. They were coming up on a world… Tch, Radiant Garden. Can't go back there yet…

"Where… are you taking me?" Saix finally mumbled.

"Still working on that," Vanitas answered.

His sense of direction in the Lanes Between wasn't great—another thing he didn't have to worry about in the corridors—but he remembered passing by the Castle of Dreams on the way from Dwarf Woodlands. That would be as safe a place to hide Saix as any.

"Can you stand?" he asked. "Wait, nevermind. Don't want you falling down there. We'll be there soon."

"Be… where? I feel him… closer…"

That wasn't a good sign, but Vanitas was flying as fast as he could without risking throwing Saix off or losing his own grip. Before long, the Castle of Dreams came into view.

"Hold tight. This might get a little bumpy."

He made sure that Saix got a better grip before taking them into a shallow dive. A portal shot from the front of the glider, allowing them to pass through the wall surrounding the world.

When they landed in the castle's courtyard, Vanitas dropped from the side of the glider and rolled out his sore shoulders.

"Remind me not to do that again…"

Saix didn't move from the glider. He lied there as if he were unconscious again until Vanitas shook him.

"Hey. You still in there?"

Saix stared straight up at the afternoon sky, but his lips formed words Vanitas could barely hear.

"He is here. You brought me to him."

"Xehanort's here?" Vanitas's eyes widened.

He scanned the courtyard and took a deep breath. His sense of smell had never recovered completely, but he should have been able to detect the old geezer. Xehanort had always smelled like dust and mothballs, with a touch of vinegar… okay, now that he was looking for it, that could be a hint of vinegar on the wind—but it was far overpowered by the antiseptic scent of pure light.

"Princesses," he muttered, scrunching up his nose. He could appreciate Aqua's light, but so many untainted hearts in one place could give him a headache.

Wait. Xehanort and the Princesses?

Vanitas instinctively summoned Void Gear—which resulted in his glider disappearing, dropping Saix to the ground. The man grunted in surprise.

"Kill me," he mumbled, placing a hand over his heart. "I won't go back to him."

"I've got a better idea. We kill him instead."

Saix looked up, more surprise showing in his yellow eyes. "How are you fighting him? Xehanort's influence… it cannot be shaken off so easily."

"I told you, I'm not a Nort," Vanitas said in exasperation. "And I'm not Sora, before you go off about that too."

"...Who are you, then?"

Vanitas's face reddened. In all his effort to explain who he wasn't, he'd never thought to say who he was.

"Name's Vanitas. I'm… a friend." That felt right.

He held out a hand to help Saix up, but the man looked at it with skepticism. Vanitas huffed.

"Look, do you want to get rid of Xehanort or not?"

Slowly, Saix nodded. His grip was weak as he accepted Vanitas's hand. Vanitas heaved him to his feet.

"Ngh, looks like Xehanort fed you, at least. I can't drag you around if we have to fight."

He lifted his keyblade, casting Curaga with decent form. Aqua would have corrected his stance by a few degrees, but it worked well enough. Saix stood up a little straighter.

"I am not certain I can fight," he said. "I am nothing… nothing but an empty husk holding Xehanort's heart. My will is all that prevents him from taking control of this body once more… I do not know how long… I will last..."

"Great," Vanitas muttered. What was he supposed to do, babysit him and try to fight Xehanort?

Wait… if the Princesses were here, then Aqua should be, too. She might know how to help him, having fought off Xehanort's control before.

If she wasn't already fighting him off again.

"Aqua, I'm coming." He took off towards the castle, only slowing when he saw how Saix struggled to keep up. "Ugh… why don't you find somewhere to hide?"

He shook his head. "He will find me."

Restraining the impulse to curse, Vanitas reached for his positivity. It had regenerated a little since healing Saix, but not by much. It probably didn't help that deep down, he was absolutely terrified to fight Xehanort. But he could ignore that for now. Right now he needed feelings of speed, the rush of wind in his hair, the thrill of zooming on his glider—

One was all he could get. One Inversed Glidewinder. But that would be enough.

"Hop on." Vanitas pointed to the blue-and-yellow creature. Saix blinked at it blankly. Vanitas was running out of patience for the zombie, but he couldn't risk letting out any Unversed now.

"Please," Vanitas practically begged. "This isn't just about Xehanort—I have a friend in there. I have to get to her before he does."

"...Someone you care for," Saix said quietly. "I wonder how that feels…"

But he finally got up on the Glidewinder. He had to crouch awkwardly to keep his balance as he clung to the key on its head. Vanitas might've laughed, if he weren't too busy fighting down terror.

They ran and glided towards the castle as quickly as they could. Luckily, this place hadn't changed in all the twelve years since he had last visited. He could still remember spying from the vaulted ceilings as Terra and Aqua destroyed his Unversed.

Aqua… this had been the first place she had fought the monsters. He still remembered the pain of her light…

He shook his head, still running. He was only remembering that because of the scent of light currently searing the insides of his lungs. The Princesses had to be close, but it was difficult to pinpoint them exactly. Their smell suffocated the whole castle. So much for his nose being broken.

"Up there." Saix pointed to the top of the grand staircase. His face was paler than before, making his X-shaped scar stand out. "He's there. One of him. I think… another is near."

More Xehanorts. A gang of Scrappers wanted to burst out at the thought, but he held them in with a deep breath. Bad idea. He gagged on the smell of light, then pulled the collar of his jacket up over his nose.

Vanitas, you've had a lot of stupid ideas, but this has got to be the stupidest. Did he think he could take on Xehanort alone, much less multiple Xehanorts?

No. I won't be alone. I bet Aqua's fighting him already.

At that thought, he dashed up the stairs. Saix followed on the Glidewinder, though if the man could have controlled the Unversed himself, he looked like he would be fleeing the opposite direction. Not that Vanitas blamed him. His heart thudded in his chest as he approached the ballroom.

So much light… His eyes confirmed what his nose already knew: all the Princesses were here. Well, all except Kairi, it seemed. That was good news, considering all of these Princesses were trapped in glowing cages.

Where was Aqua? There was no way she would have let this happen.

Panic spiking, he closed his eyes and reached out to connect with the Flood Inversed he'd left with her. Thankfully, he felt it quickly—too quickly. The Drizzle was in this room, he was sure of it. But then where was Aqua?

"Oh!" one of the Princesses shouted.

Vanitas didn't think they could see him from their angle, but he dashed behind a thick column just in case. The Glidewinder followed in spite of Saix's obvious discomfort. His blue hair was practically bristling.

"Please, come back!" the Princess called as a small figure darted out through the bars of her cage. Vanitas grinned.

"Come here, little guy, come on."

The tiny Flood dove into the floor, sliding across the blue floor in the form of a white puddle. When it got close, it popped out and tackled Vanitas's foot.

"Glad you're okay," he said, scooping it up in his palm. "Wait, no. You were supposed to be with Aqua! Where is she? Why didn't you tell me Xehanort was here?"

Saix frowned in concern, but Vanitas ignored him. He didn't have time to explain why he was yelling at a creature barely the size of a mouse.

His Inversed were better at following orders than answering questions—in fact, they could barely answer questions at all—but Drizzle tried. Fragments of emotions filtered through their link.

Worry, curiosity, danger, trapped. It gestured frantically towards the right side of the ballroom.

Heart stopping, Vanitas carefully peeked out from behind the pillar. He expected to see old man Xehanort himself stepping out of a dark corridor. But he didn't see anything.

"I didn't give you a big enough brain, did I," he sighed.

The Flood's antennae twitched agitatedly before it pointed with both arms towards the wall again.

"Look, there's nothing—"

The Flood scrambled up onto his shoulder, then pushed his head so he was looking higher up.

"—oh."

Standing on the balcony were Aqua and Kairi.

Relief flooded him. She was safe. Xehanort hadn't gotten to her. That only left one question: where was Xehanort?

Before Vanitas could call to her, Saix ended up answering his question.

"We need to hide. Now."

When the man with a direct link to Xehanort said that, Vanitas didn't ask questions. Though if it really was Xehanort coming, where could they hide? This pillar was all the cover they had, and—

"Ah, Saix. We had a feeling you'd come crawling back eventually."

A young silver-haired figure emerged from the stairwell, tailed by another floating cage of light. Inside was—Mickey? No, that didn't look quite right.

To Saix's credit—and though it seemed to cause him physical pain—he snarled for all he was worth.

"I will crawl to you no more, Xehanort."

"Xehanort?" Vanitas did a double-take.

The young man had tan skin and golden eyes, but the resemblance ended there. It wasn't even Terra's body, like Vanitas had half-expected. Had the old man taken over yet another idiot?

The young man peered at him, seeming to see into his heart. Vanitas forced himself not to flinch. He did discreetly reabsorb the Drizzle though; he might need to channel the positivity into a more combat-ready Inversed.

"It appears the Master finally succeeded with you… mostly." The man—Xehanort?—frowned. "Your heart is hidden from me. We still have work to do with you yet, Sora."

"I'm not—!" Vanitas bit his tongue.

For once, he needed to use his head. If this Xehanort thought Vanitas was one of them, maybe he could buy some time for Aqua to rescue the Princesses. Then he could punch Xehanort in the face.

But something still didn't add up. If this really was Xehanort, why didn't he remember Vanitas? He knew it had been twelve years, but was he really that forgettable?

Stupid. You don't want him to remember you. He cleared his throat.

"I don't need work," he said, scowling. "I'm enough of a Xehanort to help. What are you doing with the Princesses?"

Saix's eyes widened, but Vanitas couldn't reassure him. Hopefully the man would realize that he was just acting now… and not think that he'd been acting before.

"We are to transport them directly to the Master. Yet we are still one short. Xigbar was supposed to be tracking her, but it appears he became… incapacitated." Xehanort frowned. "I will have to take matters into my own hands. Keep watch on the Princesses and this wayward vessel until I return. Ah, and this mouse as well. She proved quite troublesome."

He lowered the levitating cage to the ground, where Vanitas could get a better look at its unconscious occupant. Vanitas thought he might recognize her… didn't she live in that ridiculous Disney Town?

"Sure—I mean, of course, Xehanort." Vanitas didn't know how the Norts interacted with each other. Hopefully he wasn't supposed to bow or anything. He didn't care how desperate the situation was, he wasn't going to sink that far.

But Xehanort just turned and walked away. After all the fear and rage Vanitas had held back… Xehanort was just leaving. Part of him wanted to chase the young man down and fight him anyway. But he knew it would be stupid. Young-looking or not, he couldn't take on Xehanort one-on-one.

"Traitor," Saix hissed.

Vanitas forced a smirk.

"You didn't really believe that, did you? Come on, we've got some Princesses to save."

XXX

Aqua didn't breathe until the young silver-haired man was gone. She hadn't been able to make out his words from her distance atop the balcony, but she didn't need to. She could sense his darkness from here.

He was a Xehanort. And Van had been talking to him. Not to mention the fact that Van had brought Saix here, of all people.

Something was very, very wrong. She didn't want to think the worst, but… maybe Lea had been onto something. If Xehanort had managed to capture six of the seven Princesses from right under her nose, it wasn't a stretch to think he could have gotten to Van while she'd been away.

Her hands trembled at the thought. If he'd gone through what she had…

I'll be there to bring him back. Just like he was there for me.

Face hardening with determination, she summoned Stormfall, then handed it hilt-first to Kairi.

"What—?"

"In case I don't come back," Aqua quickly explained. She didn't have much time. Vanitas and Saix were already heading towards the group of cages. "Use it to make a glider. Get off this world, go to Yen Sid."

"But—"

Aqua summoned Master Keeper, then forced a smile. "Don't worry. I've got a backup."

"But you can't fight them both on your own," Kairi insisted. "Let me be your backup."

Aqua shook her head. "I'd love to, Kairi, but they already have six of the Princesses. If they capture you too, we've already lost."

Kairi didn't look happy about that, but Aqua had bigger concerns. She could only hope that the younger girl would listen. The fate of the Worlds could depend on it.

Is there ever a time the fate of the Worlds isn't depending on us? Aqua wanted to sigh, but protecting the Worlds was the duty of a Keyblade Master. Even if that duty included fighting someone she loved… again.

Not allowing herself any more time to think, she leapt from the balcony. A small Doubleflight softened her landing right before her boots touched the ground. Not soft enough that Vanitas didn't hear, though. He looked up from where he was fiddling with the light-bars on Alice's cage.

"Aqua." He grinned—a real, genuine grin, not a smirk. Aqua's heart fluttered. Could Xehanort fake that if he were controlling him? "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid."

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. Normally his words would have made her laugh, but not under these circumstances. For all she knew, he was the one who'd done something stupid.

He winced, but then covered it with a glare, so quickly she could hardly tell if she'd imagined it.

"Doing your job, apparently. Where's Kairi? Aren't you supposed to be protecting her too?"

Where's Kairi? That could've been a perfectly harmless question… or Xehanort trying to get the location of the last Princess out of her. But how could she know? Van's eyes were already gold…

"You okay?" he asked, head tilted slightly. "If it's what I said about doing your job, sorry. I've had a pretty sucky day. That's not supposed to make it okay, is it…"

"That's not it, Vanitas."

He stiffened. His gold eyes were wide, and innocent as they could ever be. She wished she could believe them, wished she didn't have to be so paranoid.

"Aqua… you talked to Lea, didn't you." His voice was equal parts hurt and angry. Definitely leaning towards angry. Saix, who she hadn't been paying attention to, perked up from where he was working at Jasmine's cage.

"Lea…?" he murmured, seeming to come out of a trance.

"Yes," she answered simply, not knowing what else to say. Her brain was still searching for a way to prove that Van wasn't being controlled. Because if he was, then theoretically Xehanort would have access to his memories. He would know her weaknesses…

"And you believed him?" Van shouted. Alice flinched further back in her cage; Aqua's hand tightened around Master Keeper.

"Van—I don't know!" she shouted back, tears pricking her eyes. "All I know is that Xehanort is here and you were talking with him! What am I supposed to think?"

"I thought you would trust me!"

Through her own blurry eyes, she could see tears begin to glisten in his. That… Xehanort couldn't fake that, could he? Despite paranoia telling her she might be making a terrible mistake, she reached for Van's hand. With her other still holding her blade. Just in case.

"I do trust you." She tried her best to keep her voice calm. "It's Xehanort I don't trust. He got me once, remember? It could happen to any of us."

"Yeah, but I don't see anyone else getting called a Nort behind their back," he muttered venomously.

She hadn't heard that tone from him since the beginning of their time in the Realm of Darkness. It brought back the impulse to fall back on her pride, to argue the way she had before. But that wouldn't help any more now than it had then.

"Van, I'm sorry. I don't want anyone to think you're with Xehanort, either. But—"

"But it's my eyes, isn't it," he spat, jerking his hand out of her grip.

"What? Van, that's—no!" She shook her head. "Why in the Worlds would I think that? You had gold eyes before all this. I even had gold eyes before."

He looked back up at her, and his shoulders relaxed visibly. "Then—then why are you so mad at me?"

"Mad? Van, I'm not mad, I'm—I'm terrified." She laughed, releasing some of the tension that had been building in her lungs. "I know how it felt to have Xehanort in my heart, even for just a brief moment. If that happened to you, and I wasn't there to stop it—"

Light, now she was really going to cry. She was supposed to save that for after they were out of mortal danger—which they might still be in, if the other Xehanort came back. Or if Van really was a Xehanort… but her heart, which she desperately wanted to believe, was telling her that he wasn't.

"Dang it Aqua, I hate it when you cry," Van said softly, taking her hand again. "And I hate it even more if it's my fault. I'm sorry I scared you. But I promise you, I'm not a Xehanort. Void, that's what a Nort would say, isn't it… Aha!"

He grinned, then held up his free hand. Slowly a pool of white welled up in his palm, then became a little blue-eyed Flood.

"Drizzle," she said, meeting Van's eyes with a smile.

"I'd like to see a Nort do that." He smirked back, gold eyes sparkling. His gold eyes—no one else's.

Aqua dropped Master Keeper, which clanged against the marble floor as she pulled Van into a tight hug. He chuckled and placed the Drizzle on her shoulder before hugging her back.

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled her into letting go.

"If you value your lives, I suggest we leave," Saix said.

Standing around him were all six of the Princesses, freed from their cages. And—was that Minnie in Saix's arms? The mouse queen was unconscious. Aqua could only imagine what Xehanort had done to her.

Aqua scowled and quickly crouched down to scoop up her keyblade, but Van stopped her.

"Wait, he's a friend. He let the Princesses out so we can rescue them."

"I'm not sure I would say 'friend'... Acquaintance, perhaps," Saix said.

"Whatever." Van rolled his eyes. "Since when do you form full sentences?"

Jasmine smiled and patted Saix's arm. He flinched visibly before regaining his original stony expression.

"Since I cast the rest of Xehanort out of his heart. It's too bad though, your eyes were so pretty before. Just like my pet Rajah's."

Aqua and Van shared a look that communicated all of their surprise and confusion in about two seconds. Saix's face may have turned a shade pinker. She took a closer look at his eyes—they were blue-green now rather than gold. She relaxed a little as Saix cleared his throat again.

"What part of 'if you value your lives' was unclear?"

"I'm with him," Belle said, and the other Princesses nodded their agreement.

"There's just one problem," Van said. "We can't carry…" He did a mental count, "nine people on two gliders."

"One glider," Aqua said. "I lent mine to help Kairi escape."

"Great," Van muttered.

"Also, um… I would appreciate it if we could get that man out of my Castle," Cinderella spoke up.

"Oh. Of course." Aqua should have thought of that first. They couldn't just leave a Xehanort here unchecked. "Van, can you get the other Princesses out of here? I don't want them to get hurt if… well, I'd just feel better if they're safe."

Van stared back at her, his hands on his hips. "I'd feel better if I knew you're safe. And considering the last time we split up…"

"Fair enough." Aqua grimaced.

"Saix can take the Princesses. He may sound like a jerk, but I can smell him. The Nort's all gone."

She would have pointed out that she could tell from his changed eyes, but figured Van wouldn't appreciate that.

Saix sighed. "For all of our sakes, I won't ask. However, I would like to know how you think I should escort the Princesses from here. It will not be safe for me to form dark corridors."

"I'll take care of that." Van summoned his keyblade and held it out horizontally. A pulsing portal shot from the tip of Void Gear—

And was immediately sliced through by a blue beam of magic.

"An interesting ruse, Sora. Far more clever than I'd thought you capable of."

Aqua's heart stopped as the unidentified Xehanort stepped into the ballroom. Several of the Princesses shrieked, though Jasmine looked ready to stomp up to the young man and punch him. Saix laid Minnie on the ground so that he could take up a fighting stance, but he didn't yet summon a weapon.

"Yeah, well maybe if you paid attention, you'd get that I'm not Sora," Van spat, holding Void Gear above his head and stretching out his hand.

Though her hands trembled, Aqua called Master Keeper back and assumed her own stance.

I can do this. I'm not alone this time.

"And what a pleasure to meet you, Aqua," the Xehanort continued, ignoring Van. "It's a shame you failed to join our number. Your friend still misses you dearly."

"Terra?" Her breath caught. "He's still alive!?"

Xehanort used her moment of surprise to teleport close, knocking aside her blade with one he'd summoned in the blink of an eye.

"Get away from her!" Van roared, striking down on his unprotected back. That gave Aqua enough time to summon her blade again and shove the Xehanort away.

"She's important to you, is she?" Xehanort sprang back with a smirk. It was difficult to hear him over the sounds of screaming—all the Princesses seemed to be trying to hide behind Saix, though he looked eager to jump into the fight himself.

"She's my girlfriend, you—" That time Van did cut off his curse in time. Xehanort's smile grew wider.

"Then I suppose you wouldn't like it if I—" He didn't get to finish that sentence, because Aqua jumped forward and brought her keyblade down on his head. Or tried to—he teleported away at the last second.

"Whatever you were going to say, don't count on it," she growled. He was not going to take her again.

"Yeah. It's three on one, you idiot. And you're like—what, twelve? You're practically a baby Nort." Van smirked. Aqua would've told him to stop taunting the man, but the jab actually seemed to get to him.

"I am Xehanort from the most distant past," he said haughtily. "I am—"

Again, he didn't get to finish. This time it was Saix who lunged forward, summoning his giant backhanded blade and slamming Xehanort into a far pillar.

"You are a fool."

Van grinned. "I'd say idiot, but you know, fool's good too."

"Don't get too confident. This imp may be young, but he is still powerful. We need to get out quickly."

"Won't he just find us again?" Aqua realized, forming a different idea. "We need to do what Minnie said. The Princesses need to give up their powers."

"That's not sounding like such a bad idea now," Jasmine said. "But she didn't tell us how, and I don't think she'll be waking up anytime soon."

Aqua glanced at Minnie's unconscious form, then towards Xehanort. Despite the crater he'd dented into the pillar, he was quickly standing back up. Her heart pounded faster. Could she fight another Xehanort? What if he got inside her head again, inside her heart?

She felt her darkness rise up inside her. Panic struck. She couldn't do this. She couldn't fight Xehanort and herself and herself at the same time—what if he drew on her darkness again—?

"I'll take care of Minnie," she volunteered quickly. That was something she could do, something where she wouldn't risk being a liability. "Van, Saix, can you handle Xehanort?"

Guilt wormed in her chest as she gave the request. She should be the one fighting alongside Van, not Saix. Still, she was relieved when Van just grinned without arguing.

"Thought you'd never ask."

XXX

Sure, Vanitas could've gone a little bit longer without a fight to the death, and he could've gone forever without seeing a Xehanort again. His hatred towards the guy wanted to bubble over as Unversed, but he held it in. Aqua still had a Drizzle with her. He couldn't risk his monsters attacking each other again.

Instead of hate, he focused on the thrill of the fight. Power coursed through his blade with each strike and block. Adrenaline flooded his veins with every blow he gave and received. This baby Xehanort put up a better fight than any Heartless, a better fight than anyone he'd taken on except Aqua.

He was glad to have Saix at his side, even if the blue-haired man occasionally clipped him with the wide sweeps of his blade. He would have rather had Aqua as his partner, but whatever she was up to with Minnie seemed to be working. The ballroom glowed with the combined power of the six Princesses. The light scorched his throat, so he summoned his mask while Saix caught Xehanort in a brutal combo. Vanitas was definitely glad the man was on his side now.

"Giving up yet?" he taunted.

Xehanort staggered, pressing his free hand against a gash in his keyblade arm.

"It matters not…" He tried to smirk, but his deep gasping breaths ruined the effect. "The future… has already been written."

He teleported away and reappeared next to the circle of Princesses, his black coat silhouetted against their bright glow. Vanitas dashed towards him, using his own short-range teleportation to close the distance, hoping he would be fast enough—

He didn't need to be. Aqua emerged from the circle of light, her keyblade burning with it.

"Leave, Xehanort. These Princesses are of no use to you now."

Xehanort chuckled. "Perhaps not. But you could still be—"

"Yeah, about that," Vanitas said as he appeared right behind Xehanort—then stabbed Void Gear through his back. "Not gonna happen."

He wished he could see the look on Xehanort's face. He could see Aqua's, though—and her eyes were wide with fear. Unversed swirled in his stomach. Should he not have stabbed Xehanort? Didn't he have to die, if they wanted to save the Worlds?

Xehanort fell to his knees as Vanitas withdrew his blade. There was no blood, only darkness leaking from the wound. Even Vanitas, who'd been a heart of pure darkness, had blood. What kind of monster had Xehanort become? Was he already a Heartless?

Xehanort chuckled, and with his voice hoarse, he sounded just like his older self.

"Now you… you might be a worthy candidate."

He looked over his shoulder, leaving one last impression of glinting yellow eyes in Vanitas's mind. Then he faded away until all that was left between Vanitas and Aqua were wisps of smoke. Her wide-eyed stare started to become unbearable, even with his mask between them.

What was she thinking? That he was a monster? That he was as bad as Xehanort? He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

She was finally distracted by the fading light behind her. The Princesses' glowing auras winked out one by one, until he could finally make out the mouse standing in the middle of them.

"Well done, all of you," the mouse said. "It worked. Your powers should be gone now."

One of the Princesses asked her a question, but Vanitas had already stopped paying attention. His whole focus was caught up in Aqua's shell-shocked face.

"Aqua, I…"

She stepped forward and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I need to get out of here. Now." She took his arm, and her tone grew gentler. "Please."

"Yeah. Of course." He nodded.

He spared one last look back at Saix, who was sitting on the ground, dabbing a potion on one of his wounds. His bleeding wound. Apparently he was fully free of Xehanort. He'd be fine with the mouse and the Princesses, right?

Whatever, it wasn't his problem now. Aqua was.

He summoned his keyblade and got ready to form a glider, just as Lea, of all people, burst into the ballroom.

"Aqua!" he shouted. His fiery keyblade was slack in his hand; his brand-new plaid outfit was spotted with what looked like tiny burn marks. His eyes narrowed when he saw Vanitas. "You—"

"...Lea?" Saix said before he could finish. Vanitas could barely pick up his voice over the chattering of Princesses, but Lea seemed to hear him loud and clear, if the way he jumped was any indication.

"Isa?"

"...Van?" Aqua whispered, squeezing his arm tighter, though why he didn't know. He'd been the one who'd scared her, hadn't he? "Let's go home."

"Yeah. Let's go."

XXX

He didn't know what she meant by home. They hadn't found a permanent place to live yet. Finding one was especially difficult, considering Aqua said she didn't want to live in the same room as him yet. Something about being married and judgements and rumors, of all things. He thought it was stupid, considering they'd lived together in the Realm of Darkness for however long and nothing bad had happened. But he'd had enough rumors to last a lifetime, and from the blush on her face, he was afraid it had to deal with the confusing talk she had given him that one time.

He was going to have to ask someone else about that. Maybe he could ask Saix, as a favor in return for un-Norting him.

The thoughts flitted through his mind, trying to distract him from worries about Aqua. She clung to his waist as he flew them through the Lanes Between. Home. Where was home? Not the Mysterious Tower. He didn't want a lecture from Yen Sid. Radiant Garden was the best bet, then. If Lea was in the Castle of Dreams, then that world should be safe enough.

Aqua didn't say a word until Vanitas landed them on a mostly-intact—and more importantly, deserted—section of the city wall. Then she took a deep breath, laced her hands over the top of her head, and started sobbing.

"Void, I did screw up," Vanitas dismissed his helmet and murmured.

Should he go in for a hug, comforting her that way? That usually worked, but usually he wasn't the one who upset her. He decided against it. What could he do? She was just crying and hurting and he hated it, hated that she was in so much pain and it was probably all his fault...

"...I'm sorry I killed Xehanort," he finally said, and his voice even sounded sincere. He was sorry, if that was what had hurt her. Though he couldn't say he was sorry the guy was dead.

"What?" she finally gasped out. "Oh, Van…" he sob turned into a trembling laugh. "Light, I would've killed him myself. If I could have."

"You—huh?" He blinked.

"I mean it. I would've done the same thing." Her voice shook. "I don't know if I should be proud of that, but I wanted to. Instead I could hardly fight at all, I… I just… seeing one of them again, so soon after…"

"...You're afraid they still want to turn you," he guessed, putting the pieces together. Xehanort had started to say something about still using her, hadn't he?

"Or you." She wiped her eyes on the back of her glove, but it didn't do much. New tears just replaced the ones she soaked up. "I'm sorry… I didn't trust you completely before. I was just so scared, I—I c-can't lose you…"

He hugged her tightly, relief flooding him.

"I'm not going anywhere. They'd have to kill me before I'd join them again."

She still shook in his arms. Her tears dripped into his hair.

"Don't talk like that. Don't talk about dying…"

"Sorry." He winced. "I still suck at words, don't I…"

That got a little laugh out of her. "You're doing just fine, Van. I'm the one who should be sorry… I didn't realize how hard this would be..."

"Fighting Xehanort again?"

"I didn't even fight him," she let out in a huff. "All I did was see him, and I still couldn't—I just feel so—so weak."

Vanitas's eyes widened.

"You? Weak?" He had to suppress a laugh, though he knew she was serious. "Aqua, I've told you before, and I'll tell you again. You're the strongest person I know. Being afraid of Xehanort doesn't change that. I'm still scared to death of the guy."

She lifted her head from where it had rested against his neck.

"You didn't let it stop you, though," she said. "How did you do it?"

He shrugged. "I guess I was just more angry than I was scared. And making fun of him helped."

She chuckled. He reached up and wiped her eyes with his thumb.

"That's better." He smiled. She held her hand over his, trapping it against her face.

"Thank you." She smiled back. "Next time I'll be ready to fight him. A different one of him, anyway…" Her brows furrowed. "Did you hear what he said, though? About Terra… I wonder if he was telling the truth. If Terra—or Xemnas—is still alive… he's one I can't fight again."

"You won't have to," Vanitas promised, though of course he had no way of knowing that.

If it came down to it, he would fight this Xemnas, take the blame rather than letting her hate herself forever. But he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

"We managed to free Saix from Xehanort, remember?" he continued. "If anything, that's proof we can do the same thing for Terra."

"You're right—I can't believe I didn't think of that!" Her face lit up. She took both of his hands and squeezed them tightly. "How did you do it? You said you healed Saix part of the way, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I can't explain it, but it was a lot like making the Inversed."

As if he'd summoned it, the little Flood he'd made climbed out of Aqua's pocket. It crawled up her shirt and onto her shoulder, perching there proudly. She laughed.

"We're finally getting somewhere. I can't thank you enough."

He shrugged, blushing.

"You don't have to. You know I'd do anything for you, and I guess that includes helping your dumb friends too."

He grinned to show he was only joking… mostly. It was a testament to how good a mood she was in that she didn't smack him anyway. Instead she yanked his arms, and he stumbled forward into her kiss.

"Heh… I suppose that's a good enough thanks," he said when they pulled apart. There was still one more thing on his mind, though, in spite of how much better Aqua was feeling.

"But…?" she asked, noticing that something was off. Of course she would; he swore she could read his mind. Maybe the Drizzle on her shoulder was telling her somehow.

"I'm still worried about Lea's rumors," he said, bitterness leaking into his voice.

Sure, maybe Lea wasn't the source of the rumors—Vanitas didn't know exactly how they'd started—but it didn't stop him from getting mad at the man. "I hope Saix will tell him how I helped out, but I don't know how to convince everyone else that I'm not a Nort."

"Who else thinks that?" Aqua asked with a frown. He sighed.

"I don't know. At least everyone in Scrooge's ice cream shop. I accidentally let out some Unversed there."

"So that's why Lea said you attacked him," Aqua realized. "He doesn't know about your Unversed."

"Well he does now," Vanitas muttered, stomach churning with guilt. Even if he didn't like Lea, he should've kept in his emotions. No one was going to believe he'd changed if he let monsters of negativity loose everywhere. "I guess I can't really blame him…"

"It's going to be okay." She squeezed his hands, looking into his eyes. "It doesn't matter what he or anyone else thinks—once they get to know you better, they'll see."

"Will they?" he asked honestly. "It's easy to be nice to you, Aqua, but it's no secret I'm... not the nicest guy around. I'm working on getting better, but between that and my eyes, I wouldn't expect a warm welcome."

"Maybe I can just threaten them all into accepting you," Aqua joked.

Vanitas let out a snorting laugh.

"Advocating violence? Maybe you really did get darker while I was gone," he joked back.

"Hey, I never said I would follow through with it." She smiled, but then sighed. "I don't have a real solution, though. I've never dealt with so many other people myself. It was always easy to put out rumors with Terra and Ven. Those never lasted more than a week."

They both fell silent, watching the sun set over the city as they thought. An idea came to Vanitas, but it wasn't one he liked.

"What is it?" Aqua asked, noticing his frown. He wasn't sure if he should even suggest it, but… if she thought it was a good idea, then he'd go through with it.

"You could always change my eyes. With your magic."

She blinked at his suggestion. He did his best not to squirm, to hide his eyes from her. He couldn't take even the short moment of silence, though.

"I mean, if I don't have gold eyes, no one can suspect anything, right? They'll probably still think I'm Sora, but apparently the guy's famous in a good way, so I guess I can live with that…"

"No."

He looked up sharply. "What?"

She put her hands on his shoulders, looking at him with a surprisingly stern expression.

"Van, your eyes are a part of you. You've told me you like them. I'm not going to hide a part of you just because some people are stupid and don't understand."

"...Did you just call people stupid?" Vanitas grinned.

He was a little relieved, honestly. He did like his eyes. Before, he'd always been glad they set him apart from Ventus, and now, they were a reminder that even if he had light in him—which was a good thing, he still had to remind himself from time to time—he was still himself. Vanitas. His own person.

"I guess I did." Aqua grinned back. "The point is, people will say what they want about you, about both of us. I won't make the mistake of believing them again, not even for a second."

That was good enough for him. It had been just him and Aqua against the world before—and this time, the world was just some stupid rumors, not the entire Realm of Darkness. Thinking about it like that, it seemed kind of stupid that he even cared at all.

Still, he'd try his best to be a better person, not just to get rid of the rumors. Part of it was for Aqua, which was no surprise. She always made him want to be better. But there was a bigger reason, too.

Because this time, he got to decide exactly who he would be.