AN: New chapter! It's a bit shorter/more the usual length lol. I spoiled you guys with the last few chapters being like 10K. xD But if I actually kept that output up I'd reach burnout real fast again...soooo... :D Sorry!

End of AN!

Aqua continued down the path, even after the darkness fell.

For hours on end.

She had more than enough experience with forcing herself to just keep moving forward. No matter where she was, how long it took, or where she was going. Always move forward - until her body felt like it was screaming at her to finally stop.

It helped to know that the worlds were at peace again - safe from Maleficent or the Heartless swarms.

Aqua had been in darkness for so long, she didn't have much of anything to fear from normal darkness. Though...she did have a few things to be wary of here. Even absent the Heartless threat, she remembered her world well: it hadn't been all too peaceful in its own right, had it? Predatory animals and other dangerous beasts, marauders, bandits, pirates, and of course, battles that had foretold of looming war...

Had they come to pass, in the twenty years she had been away now? She supposed...unless you were in a place that had been affected by it...it would be hard to tell.

Wars that you might have been able to stop...from either side of the problem... came a voice in the back of her mind. A crude, sneering, high voice - similar to her own, but much more girlish...younger...

Aqua shook her head, drawing her cloak tighter around herself. She threw out a hand, conjuring a ball of light the size of her own head, and sent it drifting forth into the darkness to illuminate the path ahead. She focused on that light, on walking forward. She didn't want to let her mind wander again. Not any more. If she let it, it might return to even worse things...like Terra, and Ven, and the Master...and Kairi and the others...the apprentices she had just up and abandoned...

She had told Sora that his job was to look out for his best friend, keep him on the path of light - and here she was, having abandoned that path herself... What would the boy think of her? And Kairi...

Aqua told herself it would all be fine. They'd...get past it. They'd support each other. And...Terra was still there, and now so was the Master...and...and Ven had his old friends back, from a time far past, and- and there were plenty of new Keyblade wielders around now. The latest one being another wielder from the ancient era, a woman called Amaya - friend of Skuld. And supposed mother to Xehanort, however that all worked...

Not that Aqua could have blamed the woman for it. Even in the brief time she'd spent with that woman, Aqua had seen how earnest and open she was with herself - her Heart, and all its emotions. Unafraid to be so honest, so vulnerable, even with all of them, who were practically strangers to her (and strangers who bore extreme ill will toward Xehanort)...

To be that way with her Heart...with anyone...

It made Aqua envious. So, so envious. She had never been that way - with anyone. She thought, over the years, that she'd had her moments - she had come close, surely - but... People like Amaya, and Sora...and even Kana...

Aqua could never be like them.

But she wished, with all her Heart, that she could be. She wished...

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound pulled her from her thoughts! Aqua gazed around herself, tensing. She heard more noises from further ahead - somewhere off to the right: voices, shouting...

Aqua was so deep into the forest now, she couldn't have just turned around and found her way out again even if she wanted to. It would have taken still more hours of walking, in any direction. And even if she wanted to go back the way she'd come...

Whatever was happening was coming her way. That much was clear.

Another great crash echoed, closer now. Trees rustled, and the ground shook.

Aqua stood there, staring into the dark, the edge of her light...

What should she do?

A Keyblade Master wouldn't get involved unless she deemed it necessary.

Aqua could sense darkness ahead - darkness of the Heart - along with the sounds of what she now thought was some kind of fight, but...

But she wasn't a Keyblade Master anymore. She didn't even have a Keyblade anymore, either.

A normal woman wouldn't get involved, would she? A normal woman would stay out of it; it wasn't her business...

But Aqua's Heart, Keyblade Master or not, was urging her to investigate. To move, to see what was happening...to offer help if she could, to anyone who needed it.

Was that her training, the lessons drilled into her, or was it really her own Heart's feelings? Its instincts? Her...nature?

Even when she had been so young, she had still wanted to help Scarlet...

So maybe...it was okay to-

A large shape came rushing down the path, startling Aqua as it emerged from the dark!

She instinctively leapt aside, falling into her combat stance-

But she didn't have her Keyblade, of course.

Aqua was frozen for a moment - as the large creature blew right past her, continuing down the path without so much as a glance.

Aqua breathed, blinking and staring after it.

Something in her oldest memories stirred. Knowledge. Information. History.

The creature was massive - ten feet high, twenty feet long, in body. Sleek, white fur with red highlights. A muzzle of teeth. Glinting red eyes that had lit up as it had passed Aqua by. And now, looking at it from behind, as it retreated into the darkness...she saw the multitude of bushy tails. White, with the final few feet drenched in red, down to the tips.

It's a-

Aqua heard rapid footfalls, shaking her head and turning back to look down the path - the direction that the...being had come. A group of six people had come running down the path. Some had weapons, while others had hands brimming with magical energy. Fire, lightning. They were all battered, bloodied, and dirtied.

The group halted in front of her, staring at her in confusion and wariness.

"Huh? Who're you?" a woman with tattered clothes and brown hair asked.

Aqua flicked her wrist, letting her light rise higher over their heads - the lighting dimming the further away it got. "Just a traveler. I'm not in your way," she spoke, calm and clear.

"If you're not in our way, tell us which way the beast went," the woman replied, her voice ragged.

"You mean that kitsune?" Aqua said, turning her head aside, hiding behind her hood. "Why are you after them?"

"The thing attacked our village - tore two of our best fighters apart," the woman replied, anger etching her face now. "It probably would have eaten them if we hadn't gotten in the way, driven it off."

"Shera, the thing's getting away the longer we stand here," another of the group addressed the brown-haired woman. "Let's go."

The woman, Shera, narrowed her eyes at Aqua. Trying to peer at her face, around the hood. "She could be that beast. It might be old and strong enough to take human form. That cloak is the same color as its fur..."

Aqua turned, looking straight at the woman, cool and strong. "That's a ridiculous assumption. If you want to go after them, they went that way - but I'll be going now." She strode off past them, continuing along the road, her light drifting above her.

"If she is the mongrel-" another woman spoke up to Shera, behind Aqua's back.

"Go on ahead," Shera spoke. "They're weaker in human form, and my mind's fortified."

Aqua heard the rapidly retreating footsteps - and then she heard the single pair of boots swiftly approaching. She stopped, staring straight ahead, her hands forming fists at her sides. "Trust me, you don't want to do this," she warned the woman.

Shera's footsteps stopped directly behind Aqua. She heard the whistling of blades. "If you're not the beast, take off the cloak and let me see."

"I don't see any reason I should-"

Shera stepped in closer, her arm came around Aqua's body, and then a curved sickle blade was pressing against her throat. "How about now, huh?" she whispered harshly in Aqua's ear. "Come on - what do you have to hide?"

Aqua opened her hands at her sides, letting a breath go. In her palms, lightning magic began to bloom, hidden beneath her cloak...

"Too much."

She clicked her heel to the ground, and pillars of dark blue electricity erupted around her, swirling around her rapidly.

Shera let her go with a shriek.

Aqua whipped around, lashing out with a high leg to kick the woman across the face, even as she was still convulsing from a body covered in blue electricity; Shera flew into the air, did a full three-sixty-degree spin, and hit the ground hard. Aqua raised her hand, flashing her palm. Her lightning pillars drifted over to surround Shera, spinning around her threateningly.

The woman's weapons lay in the dirt nearby, smoking and sparking.

Aqua gazed down at the woman for a minute, but she didn't get up again. She let her magic fade, readjusted her cloak, and turned to continue on her way - quickly, this time.

She ran, with magic in her body, putting a great distance between her and the unconscious Shera.

Of course, the road only went two ways - back, and forward. She could be chased after, and found again, easily.

Aqua gazed to her left, to her right. Looking into the thick trees standing on either side.

It would be stupid to go in there. To risk getting lost in what was likely miles upon miles of forest and bush...

Not to mention the risk of encountering any more - potentially hostile creatures.

But it was bound to be better than the chance of encountering humans again.

Between the two, at night like this, she'd take her chances with the animals and other forest dwellers.

So it was that she stepped off the path, and moved carefully between two tall trees, making sure to keep her light source very close now.

As she pushed through the brush, doing her best to make sure her cloak didn't catch on anything (and, honestly, failing miserably), she kept her senses alert. For Shera's group - or any predators lurking about.

She went deeper into the woods, further off the path. She pushed through, on and on, for who knew how long. Time didn't mean much in the dark, in a place that looked the same no matter which direction she looked. Didn't mean much when all she was focusing on was moving forward again.

Eventually, to her surprise, she suddenly stumbled out into open air again.

She stared around her, realizing she'd found her way to a large clearing. She looked up at the night sky, seeing stars and the moon hanging high. She lowered her gaze, looking out across the clearing to see a large body of water. A large pond, or a small lake.

Aqua strode toward it, stopping at water's edge. She knelt down and dipped her fingers into it. It was as cold and wet as she could have ever expected it to be.

She sat back on her rear, raising a hand of shimmering flames. She closed her eyes, bowing her head, taking in the warmth of it.

She sat there like that for minutes on end. Just sitting. No more thoughts came. She felt almost relaxed, now. Almost...at peace. This clearing was nice. It was...

Aqua's eyes snapped open again as a loud creaking sound split the silent air. Her head turned, and she saw a familiar, great shape emerge from the treeline into the clearing. The kitsune...

Aqua got to her feet, turning to face them fully. She extinguished the flames of her hand and let her arms fall to her sides. She was ready to fight, hand to hand, and with magic, if need be. But if she could get away without one...that would be nice after such a long day and night.

The kitsune's glinting red eyes narrowed at Aqua across the distance, as they lumbered forward across the grass. Then they stopped, and Aqua realized those eyes were gazing into hers now. Examining her face...

Aqua breathed out. "I don't want to fight you. Honestly, I'm tired, and not in the best of moods - it's...a lot - and so if we could just go our separate ways and pretend we never saw each other, that would be...great," she murmured out.

The kitsune tilted their head at her. They blinked, slowly.

Suddenly, a rapid series of images - memories, from her own life - swam before Aqua's eyes, one after another. Dozens, potentially hundreds, in less than a second! She gasped, stumbling back and raising a hand to her head. "What-"

Burning orange flames burst from the ground around the kitsune, shrouding them completely. The flames died down as quickly as they had appeared, however, revealing...a very different sight. There was no longer a hulking mystical canine standing before Aqua, but a human woman. She looked several years older than Aqua's own physical age (not her actual, mental age, mind you). She was tall, with long, strong legs, flawless pale skin, crimson red lips that gleamed, glinting red eyes, and lengthy, shining hair of pitch black that fell past her waist and down her shoulders. She wore a loose, white-and-blood-red kimono - and no shoes.

Attached to a belt at her waist, there was a scabbard for a long, thin, curved sword. The hilt was white, and had a ruby gemstone embedded on either side of it.

Aqua took on her hand to hand combat stance, sparking electricity around them.

"I don't want to fight you on this particular night either, Keyblade Master," the woman spoke suddenly, giving Aqua pause. Her full lips drew back into a smile that bordered on the mischievous.

"How do you-"

"I read your mind, of course."

"Of course..." Aqua said, unnerved.

"I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable," the woman replied, her smile fading. "It's a natural and instinctive thing for my kind to do to one another - and, on this night, it's been a necessity when coming across humans."

Aqua shifted her stance, keeping her hands raised - her power flowing through them. "Those people, earlier - they said you attacked their village. Hurt two people who were trying to defend it. Or worse."

The woman's face became a sudden mask of rage, so quick and intense that it shocked Aqua. "They attacked me - hurt me - first! In the most terrible way they could have ever done! I was exacting my vengeance on the ones responsible for it!"

"For what?" Aqua said sharply.

The woman's rage faded, her expression relaxing. But it gave way to new emotions. Emotions just as powerful. Sorrow, and pain. The woman blinked at her, meeting Aqua's gaze...

Images flashed across Aqua's vision once again - but not anything she recognized. Nothing from her life. She saw a high mountain overlooking the edge of a forest - she saw a deep cave, of tunnels and passages, and a vast, underground lake - she saw several, smaller kitsune, identical to the one before her - and then she saw them on the ground, white fur stained with dripping red, with armed humans standing over them-

Aqua blinked, clearing away the images, her Heart aching. She returned the woman's gaze, then looked away. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. I'll get them all, in due time. I'm satisfied with what I managed to do tonight, for now."

Aqua knew she should have said something about not letting revenge cloud her Heart. Something about darkness, about how loss and pain being twisted like this wasn't going to make things right, or better...

But who was she to say something like that to a stranger? To a woman, a mother, who had lost her children in such a terrible way?

She had never been a mother - she had never lost like that, in her own life. The Master's death had come close enough, she thought, but she hadn't been there to see it. She had only ever had Terra's word about what had happened...and then she'd been so focused on other things, she hadn't had time to properly grieve. Even after getting out of the Realm of Darkness...she hadn't let herself. She hadn't wanted to.

It wasn't the same.

Aqua lowered her hands, letting her magic fade. Letting her body relax again somewhat.

"Would you like a place to stay for the night?" the woman spoke again, drawing Aqua out of her thoughts.

Aqua stared at her in surprise. She looked around her. "You have somewhere to stay? Somewhere safe?"

The woman nodded. "I do - and I'd be glad to share it with you."

"Why?"

"It's dangerous for people to be out at night like this," the woman responded. "Especially in recent times."

"Well...I can't argue with that," Aqua said, drawing herself up. "Thank you. Um...sorry, Miss-?"

"You can call me Natsumi, Keyblade Master Aqua."

"Okay - Natsumi - but only if you'll call me Aqua. Just...Aqua."

"Just 'Aqua' it is, then. Follow me."

Natsumi turned away, her long, black hair fluttering in the breeze behind her beautifully...

Her whole being was just...supernaturally beautiful, really...

Enough. Focus. Move.

Aqua forced herself to walk again, hurrying after Natsumi.

"Riku, what- what WAS that thing?"

"I have no idea," Riku said freely, his voice shaking somewhat. "But it's gone now." He paused. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so...but that thing - it felt as if it was trying to tear me right out of you..."

"It felt like it was trying to tear me right out of me," Riku said, clenching a fist before himself, and placing it over his chest. He breathed, feeling the emotions running through his Heart. "You're sure you're all right now?"

"I'm fine, Riku - but thanks for caring so much. I can feel it, you know. It's all in here with me...all around me. Like you're wrapping me up in this blanket of feelings."

"U-uh- sure..." Riku stuttered. "Glad I can be good for something."

"Hey - stop that - remember?"

"Right..." Riku sighed. "Anyways, whatever that was, I should go tell Sora and Kairi about it-"

Suddenly, a high scream came from nearby. Elsewhere in the house?!

Mom.

Riku's Keyblade burst into his hand as he all but threw himself out of his room, slamming into the hallway wall in the process. He barely felt the impact to his shoulder as he raced down the hall on memory and instinct alone, rounding the corner into the kitchen entryway!

He "saw" it there, burning in front of him - a twisted figure of golden light. And he saw the swirling mass of energy nearby that was a Heart.

"Spirits, what in the hell are you?!" mom's voice exclaimed, quavering with fear and horror. "Get back before I-"

"HEY!" Riku yelled out, starting forward. He reached for the darkness of his Heart, pulling to the surface - wrapping it around himself in a shimmering aura of purple energy. "It's me you want, right? Well I'm not done with you yet, either! So come and get it!" he called to the creature, spreading his lips into a smirk.

The monster whipped around in an instant, a shifting of light and a burst of sparks. "YOU..."

"Yeah: me," Riku responded, falling into his combat stance.

The monster darted across the room in a flash, straight for him.

Riku ducked and slashed his Keyblade, leaving a trail of dark energy and flames.

The monster shrieked and fell back, a wispy, dark wound on her- its body.

Riku thrust out his free hand, and sent out a point blank blast of Dark Firaga.

The blue flames struck the monster and exploded, throwing Riku himself backwards.

Alright...not my smartest moment... he groaned as he hit the wall and fell to his knees.

Fighting in close quarters like this was too dangerous. Too confining.

He had to take this fight outside.

Riku was getting to his feet again when the monster appeared right in front of him, those long, burning claws of light seizing his neck and slamming him back into the wall again. Pinning him there!

"Argh-" Riku struggled, raising his Keyblade for a swing.

But the monster raised its long, malformed arm, and the claws of its other hand wrapped around his blade, stopping it in its tracks.

Riku felt his Heart skip a few beats, in that moment, in total fear and panic.

This thing wasn't stupid. It wasn't mindless, like Heartless were. Whatever it was...it had some intelligence to it.

"Put my son down, you crazy spirit!" mom's voice shouted out, husky and furious.

Riku heard rapid footsteps, and then he heard a great, hefty thwack, followed by ringing metal and a clatter.

The creature dropped him, turning away.

Riku hit the floor in disbelief.

"Mom, did you seriously just try to attack a being made out of pure light energy with a pan?"

"Don't sass me; get outside, now!" mom retorted.

Riku jumped to his feet, pulling up the darkness once again. "That was my plan, too."

He let the darkness flow out of himself in pulsing waves, as he turned and ran for the front door. He wrenched it open and stepped out, then turned back. "Hey - come on - I'm right here waiting for you...whatever you are! Look at all this darkness! Come and get-"

The monster roared and dissolved into a streak of light again, chasing after him.

Riku rolled out of the way and slashed his Keyblade straight down as it passed, cutting through it.

"Riku, if you do anything stupid, you're-" mom's voice was yelling, as he heard her crossing the house quickly.

Riku raised a hand toward the door, raising a dark barrier of shimmering hexagons in front of it.

"Sorry, mom. But stupid decisions have sort of been my thing lately," he muttered out.

"And why stop now, right?" came a new, but familiar voice, startling him.

"Riku, you okay?!" came another.

Riku saw the two Hearts, shining and familiar, rapidly closing in, along with the sound of footsteps and panting breaths.

"Sora - Kairi?" Riku breathed. "Guys, I know it's going to sound crazy, but-"

"I know - Kairi filled me in," Sora cut across. "She said she had a hunch it- uh, she might come after you."

"Huh? Why would she-"

"Yeaaah, well, about that...It might kind of be my fault," Kairi said awkwardly.

"Your fault-"

"WOAH!" Sora cried out, as Riku "saw" the monster come rushing right up to him now.

It seized onto him, looming over him-

"No!" Kairi yelled, and then Riku's world of darkness was pure white. Blinding, in a paradoxically impossible way. "Leave Sora alone - leave RIKU alone! Just - STOP!"

The monster released Sora, lowering its strange, long limbs and stepping away. It turned toward Kairi in a flicker of motion. "WHY...? DARKNESS...PURGE." came its strange, stuttering voice, questioning in tone.

"Not them. Not this darkness!" Kairi said firmly. "Just - STOP. Come back - back where you came from. I don't care if I have to keep you in here, if it stops you from hurting people like this. Please? Hikari?"

Huh?

"RETURN...SLEEP..."

In the darkness of his senses, Riku watched the twisted woman of light turn into an orb of light, and then...it shot toward Kairi's Heart and disappeared, leaving a brief, bright glow around Kairi's Heart for a moment or two.

"Thank you..." Kairi's voice sighed, with pure, immense relief. "Are you okay, Riku? Is everyone-"

Riku cocked his head, listening to the banging and yelling from his house. "Well, I think mom's ready to try her hand at tearing me apart next," he tried to joke. It just sounded pretty lame to him, though.

Lame or not, Sora and Kairi both laughed.

Riku relaxed again, at last, at the sounds, letting his Keyblade vanish.

"You really have no idea how lucky you are, having friends like them," Erin's voice came, filling his Heart and head. Her voice was wistful, and even a tinge envious. Or outright jealous.

Riku crossed his arms, closing his eyes. Hey, since Terra took care of that life curse for you, once we get you a new body, you'll have all the time in the world to make some great friends of your own now.

"That's true. And I already have one, to start with."

Are you talking about me?

"Who else?" came her laughing response.

Right. Thanks...