[Kingdom Hearts AU] Someone to Watch Out for You

Intermission: Fragments

How long has she been in the Realm of Darkness? Days? Months? Decades? Aqua had no point of reference, and the mere idea of it hurt. Terra, she knew, was still in the Realm of Light. He would be safe. But Ventus? No one knew where Ven had gone after Radiant Garden.

At one point, she had the smallest of hopes that he was in Disney Town. All three friends had won the award there, after all. No one but her had come to claim it. Aqua stood at the stage alone while thinking of nothing more than her friends. How long would it be until she saw them again? Would she ever be able to see them again? She was too weary to really think about it, but she knew she had to keep moving forward. She didn't have any other choice.

Finding that Cinderella's world had fallen to darkness was a massive blow for Aqua's resolve. The town outside the castle was still, mostly, intact. Had it not been for the stench of darkness, you would have assumed you had wandered into the sleepiest ghost town in the worlds. But Aqua pressed forward. The creatures of darkness here were small and few. This meant one of two things- this world managed to have survivors somewhere out there, or everyone who had lost their bodies were now helping to bring another world to darkness. Aqua wanted to hold onto hope for the former- however, deep down she knew the latter was the truth.

Aqua moved forward to the remains of another world. It too was almost perfectly preserved in darkness. Covered in a canopy of trees, there was a small cottage Aqua faintly recognized. If she could recall, seven dwarves used to live there. They had been a jovial bunch, well concerned about a young maiden that had taken care of them for a little while. Where were they now? Did they succumb to beings of darkness as well?

"Another world that was lost to the darkness..." Aqua heavily sighed. The Keyblade Master looked around the area, soon noticing the glass coffin not far from the cottage. Aqua's feet were already moving forward as she wondered, "Is that...?" and running over before giving herself a chance to finish.

Once she was closer to the coffin, she wished she could have ignored her curiosity.

"Ven!"

Inside the coffin was indeed the form of her blonde friend. He rested peacefully, the same way he had back when he first arrived at the Land of Departure. But why was he here? Aqua's stomach lurched as she sunk to her knees. The vision of Ventus left with a blink. All that remained was Aqua, mourning at an empty coffin in an equally empty world.

'Ven... Did something happen to you? Are... are you even in the Realm of Light anymore? What did you want me to know? You've been the one who keeps my heart strong. Keeps the dark away... Is all that hope for nothing?'

Maybe now was the time to give up. What reason more did she have if Ventus was also lost to darkness now?

Her thoughts were interrupted when a fleck of blue shot past her gaze. Aqua looked up, and another fleck of blue passed by her. Soon after a green fleck also appeared. As she stood up, there were more of the green and blue entities surrounding her.

"What are you?" Aqua wondered out loud, extending a finger for one of the blue entities to rest on. At first, the touch was a small tingle- much like static. Then, in a jolt, Aqua had another vision of Ven. He was awake, and most importantly, he was smiling. In the vision he was talking to her (and acting quite flustered about it- had Aqua ever seen him blush like that before?), but she couldn't hear the words. One thing was made certain to her- he was safe.

The vision ended when the little sprite left her finger. Aqua hated to admit it, but she had almost forgotten that she was still in the Realm of Darkness.

"Thank you," she said to the sprites. The sprites happily bobbed in the air in return. Their little display made Aqua notice something behind a large cluster of them. Her feet moved her forward to get a better look at the new object.