"C'mon, Aqua, I'm a little rusty!"

Ven laughed as he banged his free palm against the hilt of his Keyblade, grinning at her and sinking into a casual—but serious—battle stance. He wanted to spar. It'd been ages since they had sparred against each other, and while Aqua hated to admit it, Ven wasn't just rusty. She was extremely well in practice, especially after what was apparently seven years of fighting near nonstop for her life in the Dark Realm. (She hadn't been told it was seven years until leaving it, but supposed she could only classify the time as "what felt like an eternity", it made sense.)

"That's what I'm worried about," Aqua mumbled, but summoned and readied her Keyblade as well. "Alright, Ven!" she called, louder, so he could hear her. "Show me what you've got!"

His first attack was predictable and easily blocked. She didn't dare say he always started his spars with Sliding Dash, except, he did. Her Block became Counter Blast without a second thought. She was greeted with an unblockable Payback Raid from Ven.

Ven jumped back and cracked his neck. "Quit going easy on me, Aqua!"

"We've only just started!"

Aqua's stance was rigid, and she had to force herself to relax a little. This was only Ven. Only a casual spar. She took a deep breath, envisioning herself exhaling her tenseness, imagining that she could feel her muscles loosening. This was only a friendly spar, and her life was not on the line.

"Show me what you're made of, Aqua!" Ven called. He twirled his Keyblade around in his hand.

"You first!" she replied, readying herself to block.

"Alright!"

Ven readied himself for attack she recognized—he'd been using it a lot lately. Casting Reflect (which was how she blocked, anyway) would probably stop it. Probably. To be safe, she waited for him to release it then immediately cast Firaga. It met his Blizzaga and carved a path out of it, enough for the remaining blast to go around her.

"I see how it is!" Ven rolled out of the way of her Firaga, then tossed his Keyblade at her. Her block prevented it from catching her immediately, but it still caught her on its way back to Ven, after the barrier vanished. He activated Fever Pitch the moment his Keyblade was in his hand again.

Not wanting to look like she was letting him win, Aqua cast Thundaga. He was vulnerable for a split second after activating the Command Style, and it hit then, just as she'd timed it. She didn't even realize she'd followed the Thundaga with a Firaga, not until the Firaga hit Ven while he was still reeling.

Ven cried out. Aqua bit her tongue to keep from shouting, worriedly. He was fine. Even as he cast a Cura, she knew he was fine.

The two spells gathered enough energy for her to activate Spell Weaver, so she did. Magnega was almost off her Keyblade before she caught herself. It wouldn't be that effective against Ven. Time Splicer was the next in mind, but she caught herself again. She shouldn't go easy on Ven, of course, but that shouldn't mean she should go hard on him.

Fever Pitch and Spell Weaver clashed, before Ven unleashed a powerful light attack she couldn't say she recognized. It hit her full on, and she only had time to Cure because Ven was activating Wingblade.

He's not as rusty as he says he is, Aqua thought, as she feebly blocked and counterattacked as Ven rushed at her with his blades of light. He'd had a couple of weeks and plenty of Heartless to fight and pull himself together after sleeping so long. It was strange to see Heartless wandering around, instead of Unversed, but they had adapted. There was no time for rest. The worlds were still in trouble, and it was their duty to fight, regardless of there being another hero in the worlds.

Wingblade finished, and Ven didn't look happy. "Aqua, cut it out!" He walked over to her, punching her in the shoulder. "You don't need to go easy on me! I'm not a little kid anymore, and how am I supposed to get better if I'm not challenged?"

Aqua chewed her lip. She couldn't meet Ven's eyes, though he was right. "Sorry," she said. "I promise, I won't go easy on you this time."

"That's not enough!" Aqua looked up in surprise at this cry. Ven fixed her with a furious glare. "I don't want you to hold back just because you're fighting me! I want you to give it your all. I know you're stronger than this. I've seen you when we're fighting Heartless, and I've felt attacks stronger than that from you, too! So show me what you're made of."

Aqua swallowed, but her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?" she asked. She couldn't help how her tone darkened.

"Positive." Ven accompanied his words with a nod.

"If you're sure."

Aqua jumped back and held her Keyblade in front of her, preparing to cast… Her mind flickered through the different spells she knew, before settling on Fission Firaga. She took a deep breath, focusing, sparing only one look at Ven before she attacked.

"Ready?"

"Give it all you've got!"

She released the spell. Ven dodged, managing even to jump and glide away from the explosive blast that finished the spell. She wasn't surprised—she felt the gusts of wind that carried him away from her attack beat against her own skin. In a second, he'd land. He'd have to—

Now!

Ice Barrage burst from under his feet the moment they hit the ground, and the pillars of ice sent him into the air. He recovered in the air, but he'd taken plenty damage. He Cured on the way down, only to be met by the stinging of Aqua's blade. Two hits was enough to activate Diamond Dust. Ven rolled away from her, and might have escaped, except she met him after two rolls with Time Splicer.

She couldn't say the Stop worked on him, but the teleporting and slicing was enough to catch him. Ghost Drive was in her grasp before Time Splicer was finished. She activated it the moment she hit the ground, before casting Thundaga Shot, then Mega Flare, then Ghost Drive's finisher.

Ven was sent further and further back with each blast, with the force of each spell, until finally he hit the cliff they had been sparring in the shadow of. Aqua winced in sympathy. That looked like it hurt, and even if his fall looked as if it had been slowed…

She was running to his side immediately, apologies leaving her lips faster than a Curaga could leave her fingers. She cast one more Curaga before she reached him, then another as she helped him sit up, cradling his head in her hand. Perhaps three Curagas was more than called for, but Aqua would much rather be safe than sorry.

"Ow…" Ven groaned. He was sitting up with his own strength before long, at least. "Holy smokes, Aqua…"

"Sorry," she said, again. "You told me to give it everything. Are you alright? Are you mad?"

"I'm fine." He pushed her off, though not with much strength. "And mad? No way! That was awesome!" He laughed. "I mean, I think I'd rather like to not be on the receiving end of those but—where did you learn that stuff?" The look he was giving her was pure awe.

Aqua cleared her throat, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. She'd never responded well to praise, nor had she received it frequently—Master Eraqus had always followed his praise with pointers of how to improve, and even if Ven and Terra had talked up her abilities, it'd never happened after completely destroying them in a spar.

"I… I had a lot of time to practice," she explained. Her cheeks felt very hot.

"Are you tired?" Ven looked at her, worry furrowing his brow now. "That was a lot of spells to cast in a row—I know you've always had a high tolerance for that, but surely you need an ether, or…"

"I'm fine." It wasn't a lie. There had never been time to rest in the Realm of Darkness, so she'd adapted. She hadn't had another option. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"I think so, yeah!" Ven burst out in laughter. "Geeze, you were really holding back, weren't you? Here, help me up."

Aqua got to her feet and extended a hand to Ven, pulling him up. She hoped her cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "Well, I didn't want you to feel bad for being out of practice," she said. She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye.

"But if you'd used some of those on the Heartless, we'd be done five times faster!" Ven argued.

"And then you'd never get any practice because you wouldn't be able to fight anything."

Ven started to protest again, then paused. Clearly, he saw the wisdom in that, and sighed, nodding. "I guess you're right, there. But now I'll have to get better!" He grinned at her. "I've got a lot of catching up to do, huh?"

"I guess so, yeah." Aqua smiled back at him.

"Well, let's go find some Heartless, and we can get started!"

Aqua's smile fell, and she shook her head vigorously. "What? No, Ven! I mean." She cleared her throat and tried not to sound so demanding. "After a beating like that… Are you sure you can handle fighting Heartless? You should rest…"

Ven folded his arms across his chest, pouting a little. He didn't argue, though, she realized. "Well… you think I can watch you kill some Heartless with those cool attacks? I shouldn't have to do much fighting."

"I'm not so sure—" Aqua began, then caught herself. She didn't see what it could hurt, really. "Alright," she agreed, with a sigh. "You can watch me fight Heartless." She wasn't exactly ecstatic about the idea of fighting more Heartless, but knew it wouldn't hurt the worlds to kill more of them.

Ven punched the air. "Yeah! Aw, thank you Aqua! Thank you!"

"Uh-huh." Aqua summoned her armor and her glider to her. "Let's go find some Heartless."

AN/ to note, this was psuedo written for FtPverse, though no FtPverse knowledge is necessary for this to be understood. Because this comes off as more "vague KH fic" than "specifically FtPverse content" I posted this separately instead of ASAS. You don't have to take this as FtPverse canon, and if you aren't a FtPverse fan then ignore this message. ((If you are a FtPverse fan and would like to take this as FtPverse canon, Aqua's ten years in the Dark Realm becomes seven because of Timing Things you should be aware of.))