Darkness Waits

She stood, resting herself against a tree, as her heart sped fearfully. Perhaps what she did, or had almost done, had been inevitable; she'd been carrying more pain than she had ever expected to. Fear, anger, loneliness. Not only her own, but some of Terra's, too. It should've been obvious then, that Vanitas had been toying with her. Every encounter would remind her of just how alone she felt, and every time they would fight. And gradually, as her pain became heavier, their fights would become more and more anger-driven as he continued to taunt her. Until finally, her fears, sorrow, and anger took the form of darkness. It had only been for a moment, but that had been enough to shake her with the realization that she had just about succumbed to it. And in that moment she had felt lost, and the only thing she could think to do was run to avoid conflict. It was only a temporary solution, but Aqua needed time to grasp what she had almost done.

Terra, Ven... she called silently, though she knew it would never reach them.

It was for the better, as knowing what she almost did would do favors for no one, and Terra never had, or ever would've, given her permission to carry his burden. She could guess what he would say, if he could ever find out, and knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear. But at that time, hearing anything from Terra or Ven would've been a comfort, no matter how negatively her choices were received. But for her friends to be safe they could no longer know about the keyblade, their journey, or even each other. And every time she thought about it she felt herself die a little more on the inside. That alone had made her struggle with the darkness that much greater.

"How much longer do you intend to keep running from the dark?" came Vanitas, though his tone was its usual calm, there was some irritation in it.

Aqua startled, and followed his voice to find him standing in the branches above her. She threw her hand back to call her keyblade, but made a fist instead.

"Ventus wouldn't fight, either," he said as he watched her movements closely. "That idiot refused its power for a broken friendship."

"It's not broken! We'll always be connected," she assured herself, though she knew she shouldn't have lashed out. "Not that you'd understand," she finished before turning away and starting in the opposite direction.

"Is that what friends do? Forget all about each other as if they never existed in the first place?" he taunted. "Not that they had a choice. Ventus, Terra... they were supposed to be a team, right? Now who went and messed that up?"

Aqua froze in her steps, feeling as though Vanitas had just pierced his keyblade through her heart. He hopped down from the tree as he continued.

"You chose to wonder down this path alone, and I want to see you reach the end," Vanitas added in a threatening tone.

She assumed a defensive stance, but remained unarmed.

"I'd call my keyblade if I were you," he warned as he summoned his own, "right now."

Aqua shifted a bit, but still she kept her empty hand at her side. Vanitas let out a barking laugh.

"It doesn't matter whether you fight or not, your suffering will do just fine."


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Inspired by an AU Romy350 was talking to me about.

This has been sitting on my Sta.sh for so long, I could probably write this better now. Maybe.

Rendered in XPS
Edited in Photoshop
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Aqua meshmod by me (parts by LexaKiness)
Background by LexaKiness

All models belong to Disney and Square Enix.