A/N: It's been several years since I've written anything for this site, but I'm eager to get back into the swing of things. To that end, I've decided to add a tale for the woefully lacking Ven/Aqua pairing. I hope my writing is at least passable, though I'm pretty rusty at the writing game. Don't hesitate to tell me if it sucks or something. Of course, telling me it was good would be nice too. As I'm not one for long Author's Notes, let's just get this show on the road, shall we?

A Midnight Picnic

Ventus had a problem. No, not a problem, but more of a dilemma. It was something that occupied nearly every thought, unless he had something far more pressing to deal with, which wasn't exactly often. After all, being a simple apprentice who was still in training meant that he didn't have any missions to suddenly take his mind off of things. As unfortunate as it was, Ven just had to soldier through his issue, something at which he could do a passing job at. He wasn't trying to soldier through it at the moment though, since he'd decided to retreat to his room after the day's last training session, foregoing dinner for the solitude. Solitude he could use to think about a certain blue haired girl without someone commenting on him spacing out.

"Ven, you awake in there?" asked the voice of a very particular girl from outside, accompanied by a knock on Ven's door. The young apprentice shot up from where he was resting on his bed, a terrified look on his face. The very object of his dilemma was right outside his door! A quick look at his alarm clock told him it was nearly midnight, which made the visit rather strange. Why would she be calling on him this late?

"Ven, are you awake?" the girl asked again, knocking softly once more. Ven debated with himself on whether or not he should open the door for a couple of seconds, eventually choosing to see what she needed. Perhaps it was important.

"The door's open," he called, using his Keyblade to unlock it from his sitting position on the bed. The door swung open, revealing the form of his friend Aqua. She stepped into the room, giving him a curious glance.

"You didn't eat dinner with us earlier," she said. "I thought you might be feeling under the weather."

That was all she wanted to confirm? Ven couldn't help but wonder why she didn't come and see him a few hours before. It wasn't like Aqua to not want to make sure that someone was in good health as soon as she could.

"No, I'm fine. Just wasn't all that hungry, so I figured I'd just go to bed early." This was nowhere near what he actually did, of course. Instead, the last few hours had been spent thinking about Aqua and attempting to decide whether he would ever confess his feelings for his fellow Keybearer.

This attraction to Aqua didn't just show up out of nowhere. He had always been aware that she was pretty and vaguely toyed with the idea of asking her on a date, but one incident in particular had awakened him to a deeper appreciation of her looks and a serious thought to advancing their relationship beyond the realm of "just friends". It had been a normal day, by all accounts, and Ven had gone for a dip in the pool in order to get some swimming practice in. Aqua had been nearby, watching him with mild interest. For some reason, one that Ven thought he'd never be able to discern, his mind generated an image of Aqua sitting by the pool in a skimpy bikini, oiling herself up. Why his mind whipped up that imagery was a mystery, but more important was the fact that it had done so while he was underwater testing how long he could hold his breath.

Temporarily forgetting that he was not in a position to fill in his lungs with oxygen, Ven gasped and subsequently found himself devoid of an air supply. Aqua, having been watching him the whole time, spotted him grasping his throat underneath the water, correctly deducing that Ven was starting the process of drowning. Wasting no time, she leaped into the water to save her friend, helping him breach the surface of the pool, where he then took one huge breath and thanked her for saving his life. Upon looking at her, her hair soaked from the trip underwater and hanging over her face haphazardly, he saw something more than he usually saw when he looked at Aqua. That was the moment he realized that Aqua wasn't just pretty, but that she was beautiful and had positively taken his breath away.

Forcibly pulling himself out of his sudden reverie, Ven brought his attention back to Aqua.

"So is that all you needed, Aqua?" he asked, half hoping she'd leave him to his musings. His current state of mind was not one which he wished to be in while alone with Aqua.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a midnight snack with me," she answered, shifting her gaze from him to some undetermined spot outside his window.

Ven stared at her dumbly for a few seconds, not quite sure how he wanted to respond to her. On the one hand, he was incredibly hungry after passing on dinner. On the other, this would mean that he'd be spending time alone with Aqua…while Master Eraqus and Terra were asleep. The temptation that'd arise from that situation would likely be too great for him to resist, and he'd probably do something stupid that he'd regret in the morning. Such an outcome would be horribly awkward, possibly for the both of them, so he opened his mouth to decline her offer. His stomach had other ideas, however, and growled loudly before he had a chance to utter a word.

"I'll take that as a yes," Aqua said, giggling. Ven could feel his face heating up, both from the embarrassment of having his stomach growl like that in front of Aqua and at how cute she sounded when she giggled.

"Lead the way, my fair lady."

Ven followed Aqua to the kitchen, wondering what to eat. There was a very high chance that whatever leftovers there might have been from the dinner he missed, which would've been his portion of the meal, were thoroughly taken care of by Terra. The guy had a hell of an appetite at times and was fully capable of eating far more than he should be able to at one time. The funny part about that was that Terra hated being thought of as a heavy eater. That inevitably led to Ven and Aqua teasing him about it at nearly every meal.

Chuckling to himself at his thoughts, Ven strolled over to the fridge and opened it, looking over his options.

"I've got a little something prepared for us already," Aqua informed him, holding up a picnic basket and blanket that he somehow failed to spot when he entered the room. "I thought we could turn this into a little picnic. Sounds nice?"

Ven took a moment to answer, finding something odd about Aqua having planned a picnic at this hour.

"You do realize that it's past midnight, right?" Ven asked. Aqua nodded, though there was something about the look on her face that made Ven wonder about the situation even more.

"I know it's late, but what better time to have a picnic? We can sit and admire the stars this way."

"What about admiring the sunrise?" Ven countered. "That's nice to look at too."

"Terra might be up," she said simply, choosing not to elaborate. Ven just looked at her blankly before gesturing for her to lead the way again. Why in the world would Terra possibly being up would be problematic? For one thing, he was hardly ever up at that time of the morning, preferring to get as much sleep as he could without incurring the wrath of Master Eraqus for sleeping in too late. For another, it would be entirely natural for the three friends to share breakfast while looking at the sunrise.

A sudden thought occurred to Ven as he and Aqua made their way to the summit of the hill they always trained on. While it was normally sunsets that would be viewed as romantic, a sunrise could be considered a romantic sight to enjoy with a partner. Did Aqua want to avoid watching the sunrise with him because of that? Was she afraid that he'd get the wrong idea? Thinking on it some more, Ven realized that it could be because of Terra as well. Maybe they had some special routine at sunrise that she didn't want Ven intruding on. That thought brought his mood down considerably.

"Alright, let's set up here," Aqua said, putting down the basket and spreading out the blanket. Ven took a seat on the blanket as Aqua pulled out all of the food she'd packed up in the picnic basket. He barely took note of what she had, his hunger gone. He couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of Terra and Aqua as a couple.

It wasn't a farfetched prospect, to be honest. Terra had already informed Ven that he had feelings for Aqua. It was to be expected, considering that he and Aqua had been Eraqus' only students until Ven showed up. All of the time they had spent alone was bound to result in romantic attraction in at least one party's case. It was a natural outcome. If both of them had developed an attraction for each other, which was entirely possible, then Ven had no chance of ever moving his relationship with Aqua out of the friend zone. Even if Aqua didn't feel for Terra like that, Terra had been here first. In the hypothetical battle for Aqua's affections, he had the right to tell her his feelings first. There was no way that Ven could preempt him, as Terra was like a brother to the young apprentice.

"What's eating you?" Aqua asked, pulling Ven from his thoughts. "You seem preoccupied."

"Nah, just enjoying the view," he lied, trying not to show any hints of his true thoughts. In truth, the thoughts of Aqua and Terra being romantically involved were threatening to overwhelm him. It was so bad that he hadn't noticed that Aqua had taken a seat right next to him, her shoulder nearly touching his.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?"

"Huh?"

"The stars, Ven. Aren't they amazing?"

Ven looked up at the night sky, taking in the sight. He had to agree that it was beautiful, but it wasn't anywhere near as beautiful as Aqua was. As if to confirm this, he turned his gaze on her. The look of awe on her face as she continued to stargaze caused him to smile widely. It was so cute, the way she just stared at the stars, failing to notice anything else around her. His gaze eventually shifted over to her lips, and his breath caught at how soft and inviting they looked. He briefly imagined thowing caution to the wind and just kissing her, ignoring all of the reasons that would be a bad idea. It could end up being the best idea he ever had, or it could turn out to be his worst. There was just no way of knowing what the outcome would be, which made the idea a bad move.

Before he managed to move his gaze elsewhere, Aqua suddenly turned to look at him, that lovely smile of hers that he loved so much lighting her face up. She didn't say anything, apparently content with just looking at him. For his part, Ven had no words either. All he could do was continue staring at her, though he found himself gulping loudly when his eyes darted down to her lips again. He could tell that she was wearing lip gloss, for they shined in the moonlight. It made it incredibly hard to resist the urge to seize her lips with his, and the fact that she was still smiling at him didn't make matters any better. After what felt like an eternity, Ven finally managed to wrench his gaze away and give some attention to the food.

"So, what did you bring for us?"

"Some sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit, and a strawberry-banana smoothie."

"Only one drink?"

"I've got two straws."

Ven gave her a disbelieving look at her answer, but she simply showed him the large cup and two straws, proving her claim. He decided to start munching on some of the chips, needing a distraction of some sort. Aqua picked up a few cherries and ate them slowly, throwing Ven an appraising look after finishing each one. When the last of her handful was gone, Aqua voiced a question to Ven, though she wasn't looking at him this time.

"Ven, what do you think of me?"

The question caught him completely off guard, and he struggled to get his thoughts in order before giving a response.

"You're…well, great," he said lamely, unable to voice anything more for fear of revealing his deepest feelings for her. "I can't imagine life without you."

"Do you mean that in a friendly way, or something more?" she asked, looking at him pointedly. Ven nearly stopped breathing at that one. Did she really just ask that? Did she know of his true feelings, or was it something else that prompted the question. Ven decided to be coy with his answer.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at, Aqua. How am I supposed to mean it?"

"What do you think?" she said, answering his question with one of her own. He had to think for a second before he spoke.

"I think…that you might be looking for a certain answer to your question."

"I might. Think you can figure out which one I want to hear?"

Ven was about to give his response when a sickening thought occurred to him. What if this was all just a dream? Maybe he had fallen asleep earlier and didn't realize it since the dream was so real. Things were playing out far too well for this to be real. There was no way that Aqua liked him like he liked her. It was too good to be true, especially when someone like Terra was around. For Aqua to choose him over Terra would be foolishness.

He decided he wanted out of this dream, as it was too painful to have come so close, only to realize just how far away he was from his greatest desire. In an attempt to awaken himself, he pinched his cheek as hard as he could. Surprisingly, it did nothing more than make his cheek red. Aqua gave him a funny look, apparently not expecting that action.

"Ven, what'd you do that for?" she asked curiously.

"I realized that I'm dreaming, so I'm trying to wake up," he responded, pulling on his bottom lip now. "This has been great and all, but I really should get back to reality. The last thing I need is for Aqua to come into my room and hear me moaning about her or something."

"How exactly would I do that when I'm right here?"

"You're just Dream Aqua. All of this," he indicated the setting around them, "is just a dream of mine. A great dream, yeah, but still a dream. The real Aqua would never do something like this, not for me at least."

"And why not? Why can't I do something like this for you?"

"Well, Terra, for one thing. He's older, stronger, funnier, and so much more than me. I'm just a kid."

By this time, Ven had progressed to pulling his face at odd angles, and Aqua had had enough. She took Ven's hands in her own and demanded his attention.

"Listen to me, this is not a dream. It's real, very real. I truly wanted us to spend this time together."

"But why?" Ven asked stupidly, still convinced that he was dreaming.

"I know all about your feelings for me, Ven," she revealed, looking at him seriously. "I've known for quite a while now. I see the way you look at me, and the way you stay around Terra when you're unsure of being alone with me. I see how you try to do things for me, even if it's something so small and trivial. You're like an open book to me.

"When you chose not to come to dinner, I came up with this picnic idea. It was the perfect way to get you alone so we could talk, without the risk of Terra popping up unexpectedly. I wanted you to know that I like you too. I haven't had much of a chance to tell you since you're so intent on keeping your distance."

Ven was speechless. Aqua had just told him the one thing he wanted to hear so badly, and it was threatening to break his brain. If this really wasn't a dream, then he had to be the luckiest guy alive. Terra's place in all this still lingered in his mind, and he had to voice his thoughts.

"Terra likes you too, you know," he said. "He actually told me before I could tell him that I liked you. That's what made me so reluctant to say anything to you. I felt like Terra deserved the chance to tell you about his feelings first."

"That's so sweet of you, but what made you assume I'd prefer Terra over you?"

"It's like I said, he's just…"

"Don't sell yourself short," Aqua interrupted him. "You're not inferior to Terra in any way, shape, or form. In fact, you're actually cuter than him." This made Ven blush uncontrollably.

"I'm younger too. Doesn't that bother you?"

"I happen to like my guys younger, for your information. You're just my type, so stop trying to convince me otherwise."

"So…what happens now?" Ven asked with uncertainty. He was at a complete loss as to what to do next. "Where do we go from here?"

"For starters, you can kiss me. Seems like a good way to put our new relationship into gear," she said with a sly smile.

Ven wasted no time in taking her advice, doing what he had been dreaming of doing for months. Their kiss was filled with the kind of passion that only two teenagers could produce, but it wasn't overwhelming. When they pulled apart, both sported dazed looks on their faces.

"That was….amazing," Ven said, his mind in a daze.

"Yes, I have to agree," Aqua said in return, blushing furiously.

"I think my technique could use some more work, though," he said, a roguish grin appearing.

"Mine too. I think we can help each other with that."

Their picnic lay forgotten as the two locked lips again, making quite a bit of headway in improving their technique.