Hi, my wonderful readers!

I'm back with a quick one shot. This one isn't nearly as good as Her Darkness, His Light, but I'm working on another, longer fic. I hope you enjoy this one in the meantime. Tried to keep everyone in character. Please let me know your thoughts! I think at the very least, that this story is cute. ^.^

Ventus grinned. Gotcha now, he thought. He charged Aqua with a series of quick strikes, which she managed to block, but barely. She cartwheeled backwards, away from Ventus, landing gracefully on her feet. She gasped as Ven threw a very quick Strike Raid. His Keyblade struck hers hard, flinging it out of her hand. Ven lunged towards her, as if to attack again, but stopped short, a grin on his face as his Keyblade returned to him. "I win!" he said.

Aqua sighed in defeat, a soft smile on her face. "You've improved so much, Ven," she said.

"Thanks! Pretty soon I'll be giving Terra a run for his money, too!" he said, dismissing his Keyblade and folding his hands behind his head.

"I have no doubt," she answered truthfully. The sound of their Master's voice on the other side of the training grounds rang out, grabbing Ven and Aqua's attention.

"Come on, Ven," Aqua said, heading to the other side of the grounds. Ven wasn't sure what had happened, but from the look on his brother's face, he knew it wasn't good.

"Vanitas, you are failing to keep the Darkness within you sufficiently in check. How many times must I tell you-"

"To give the Darkness no quarter in my heart. Yeah, yeah. Give it a rest," Vanitas snapped. He'd been sparring with the Terra and had gone on the offensive, trying to strike him with Thundara. Unfortunately, that spell had been laced with Darkness. The Master had not missed the dark tendrils wrapped around the lightning.

"Hey!" Terra said, sounding angry. "You will show proper respect to the Master. He knows what he's saying, Vanitas."

"Oh, yeah?" Vanitas said, facing the eldest Chaser. "And I suppose you have managed to triumph over your Darkness?" Terra glared at Vanitas, but said nothing. "That's what I thought. In that case, you don't have a right to lecture me."

"Enough," said Eraqus. "We will resume training tomorrow. Ventus, Aqua, how did your training fare?" he asked, turning to the other apprentices, who had walked slowly over.

Aqua bowed her head to Eraqus, much to Vanitas's annoyance. "Very well, Master. Ventus bested me today."

"You should have seen it, Master! I flung her Keyblade right out of her hand!" Ven said, his ever present boyish grin on his face.

"I'm sure it was quite a sight," the Master said, smiling fondly at Ven. "Now, shall we go prepare dinner?"

"Yeah, I'm starving," Terra said.

"What, did Vanitas wipe the ground with you?" Ventus teased.

"No, but are you sure Aqua didn't let you win?" Terra said, elbowing Ven.

"Get real, Terra!" Ven shouted.

Aqua laughed softly. "You two just don't know when to stop." She noticed Vanitas wasn't walking back to the castle with them, so she stopped and turned back around. "Vanitas?" she called.

He glowered back at her. "What?"

"Aren't you coming?" she asked.

"Just leave him, Aqua," Terra said when Vanitas didn't reply.

"He'll come when he's hungry. C'mon," Ven agreed.

When they were all finished with dinner, they heard the castle door swing open, then the resonating echo through the castle hall as it shut. Aqua was hopeful Vanitas would come to join them, especially since they'd all trained hard all day, only stopping for a midday break, but he didn't.

She stood from the table, clearing her glass and plate, and headed into the kitchen. Dropping her dishes in the sink, she grabbed a fresh plate and filled it with food. After, she headed for the door again, only to be met by Terra.

"Just leave him be, Aqua," he said solemnly.

"He hasn't eaten, Terra. I'm just going to bring him food in his room. He obviously doesn't want to eat with us, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't eat," she said.

Terra sighed, knowing Aqua would not be swayed. "All right. Ven and I are going out to the summit. Join us when you're done, if you'd like."

She smiled at him, nodded and headed out towards the west wing. Aqua rounded the corner toward Vanitas's room, walked to his door, and knocked softly. "Vanitas? Vanitas, it's me Aqua." She hoped he would answer. In her mind, she liked to think he might have a soft spot for her. He didn't seem to glare or snap at her as much as everyone else.

A few moments later, his door swung open. His golden eyes glinted at her. "What?" he asked.

She swallowed. "You didn't join us for dinner. I thought you'd be hungry," she said, offering him the plate.

"No, thanks," he glowered, beginning to swing his door shut.

"Please, Vanitas. You need to eat," Aqua said, putting her hand out to stop the door from closing in her face and walking into his room.

Vanitas's mood darkened. Since when did she think she could just barge into his room? "Go away, Aqua. Go play with my brother and Terra. I'm sure they're waiting for you."

"Why didn't you join us for dinner?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Why? To be chastised by Eraqus and have Terra glare daggers at me through the whole meal? No, thanks." he said.

"The Master was done with talking about today's training," she said, reaching for his arm.

He flinched away from her. "Terra wasn't." he said. "I'm sure Ventus would have had something to say, too."

"Actually, I'm sure he would have liked to relay how he beat me in our match today," she replied.

Vanitas grinned. "I cannot believe my stupid kid brother beat you."

"He's so fast!," she exclaimed, exasperated. She knew Ven was not going to forget it, either. She smiled as Vanitas grabbed the biscuit off his plate and wolfed it down.

"Did you make dinner?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, folding her hands in front of her.

"I figured. The food actually looks edible." he said.

He watched her for a minute. She seemed to be the only one who didn't fear or hate him. She looked at him like he was a person. A real person, not a monster or a threat. Her kindness was genuine. Eraqus tolerated him as an apprentice, but Vanitas knew he'd never, ever be considered a candidate for the Master Qualification Exam. Eraqus would never trust him enough to send him on errands or missions. If Eraqus got his way, Vanitas would be stuck in the Land of Departure forever.

Then there was Terra and Ventus. Terra hated his guts. That was all there was to it. Ventus didn't have a problem with Vanitas per se, but he feared him. Ven never said as much, but Vanitas knew it. Ven always looked at him with guarded eyes, and he was very careful with his words when he spoke to him.

Aqua knew Ventus looked up to Vanitas, though. He latched onto Terra because he was friendlier, but Aqua knew Ventus loved his older brother dearly.

"What, did Vanitas wipe the ground with you?"

Ven never talked about being able to give Vanitas a run for his money.

When Vanitas didn't say anything more, she headed for the door. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Vanitas," she said.

"No," he answered.

"What?" she asked, perplexed.

"I won't be here tomorrow," he said simply.

"You can't leave," she said, leaning against his door.

"And why is that?" he said, looking at her. "I hate this World. I want to see what else is out there."

"It's forbidden to enter the Lanes Between," she said firmly.

"And you presume to stop me?" Vanitas scoffed. "Or are you going to tell Eraqus?"

Aqua squared her shoulders. "You'll break Ven's heart," she said.

Vanitas's resolve faltered, but only for a moment. "He's got you and Terra."

"He needs you," she said. "Why do you want to leave?"

"It's pretty easy to see that your Master doesn't accept who I am. Why should I stay?" he said, folding his arms.

"He just wants what he thinks is best," she murmured.

Vanitas rubbed his temples. "Aqua, could you just extinguish your Light? Could you stomp it out if Eraqus told you that you needed to? Would you want to?"

Aqua didn't know what to say. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "I never thought of any of this that way," she murmured. "the Light has always been part of me."

"And yet I'm a monster, because of my Darkness. I don't struggle with it like Eraqus thinks I do. That's like telling you that you struggle with having blue eyes. You don't. They're something about you that you can't change."

"You are not a monster, Van," she said. "Maybe you should say that to the Master," she said.

"It wouldn't make a difference to him," he said sourly.

"But you still can't leave," she pleaded.

She actually wants me here? He walked over to her, putting both hands on the door on both sides of her shoulders. "So give me a reason to come back," he said, leaning close. Her breath hitched in her throat, and her heart began to pound. "Unless," he said, "meeting with Ventus and Terra is too important. Are you and Terra…" he trailed off.

"No!" she answered quickly. "No, there's nothing like that between Terra and me."

He grinned at her. "You sure?"

"I'm...I'm sure," she stammered.

I'll make sure it stays that way, he thought. He did not regret leaning down to press his lips against hers. She was shocked initially, but her hesitation lasted only a moment, then he felt her kiss him back. Her hands gently cupped his face, then slowly slid around his neck. He smiled against her lips, then pulled away.

He extended his right hand, and a corridor of Darkness appeared. Aqua gasped, then found herself looking back into Vanitas's piercing gaze. "Come with me," he said, extending his hand to her. He sensed her hesitation, and a wolfish grin appeared on his face. "I'll bring you back," he assured her.

"How do I know you won't leave on your own after?" she countered.

He shrugged. "I'm not going to stay here forever, Aqua. Don't be stupid." Her face fell, hurt, so he continued. "I'm leaving when you and my stupid brother are named Masters."

Her eyes lit up. "Promise me."

He nodded.

She took his hand.