*I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of their characters

"Hey, Aqua!"

The blue-haired woman looked up from where she was filling out case reports for the day. "Yeah, Ventus?"

"Chief wants to see you in his office," replied her blonde partner (who just also happened to be her brother), who looked much younger than he really was. In fact, his face was so youthful that whenever the police department wanted to catch someone doing illegal things with minors, he was the first one everyone volunteered to do the job. Normally, he had a big grin on his face… but with the events that had happened recently, it was no wonder that he wasn't smiling

Aqua sighed as she stood up and straightened her uniform. "Thanks, Ven!" she called out as she headed towards the chief of police's office. On her way there, the sight of the Unversed-Heartless battle kept flashing through her head, and lying amongst the fallen Unversed had been… no, she had to stop thinking about him. Pausing in front of his door, she took a deep breath to straighten her thoughts, then politely knocked.

"Come in!" came the answer.

Opening the door, she saw Chief Eraqus sitting behind his desk. A small smile graced his face as he looked up.

"Aqua! Please, close the door behind you and have a seat," he kindly ordered. As she did so, he studied her for a moment. She, along with Ventus, had been found orphaned during one of his first cases. Despite what everyone else had told him at the time, he decided to take them in as his own, and as the two of them grew he kindly but firmly mentored them. When they had brought to his attention another boy that attended their school who had been living with abusive parents, he made sure that his parents were brought to justice while he made sure the boy went to a good family. Not long after that, Ventus and Aqua had become very good friends with the boy, and more often than not all three of them could be seen playing in his backyard, play-fighting with toy swords. One of his fondest memories will always when the trio came up to him and exclaimed that they all wanted to become police officers so that they could be just like him. So, it was a huge shock when young Terra, the one he had been hoping one day to pass the title of Chief to, suddenly quit the force and joined one of the most dangerous gangs out there. Then, this most recent incident… he shook his head to clear it, then looked back at the woman his blue-haired tomboy had become.

"Aqua, I'm giving you a week's paid vacation," he finally said with no preamble.

"Wha-? But, Chief, why?" she stammered, confused.

"Because I know how much this latest case has affected you," he replied. "After all, it is no small matter to see the body of a loved one at the scene of a brutal gang battle."

Aqua stared at the man who had raised her. "Chief… what about you and Ventus?"

"We will not be taking this paid vacation."

"But why? You both loved him as well!" she all but shouted. She was fine, why the heck…

Eraqus interrupted her thoughts with sad smile as he answered, "Yes, but neither of us were in love with him."

Her jaw dropping, she stared at him. Was it really that obvious? "You knew?" she finally said in a soft voice.

He nodded. "I knew. After all, the two of you were always very close, so it was no surprise when I noticed that your feelings for him had changed. Plus, the blush that appeared on your face whenever the two of you brushed hands was a dead giveaway."

Aqua turned away as she tried to hold in the tears that threatened to spill down her face. "But Terra abandoned us… why should I even mourn for him? He doesn't deserve it!" she muttered angrily to herself

Eraqus gazed mournfully at his adopted daughter as he heard her mutter. "Love is a complicated thing," he remarked. "You know that as well as I. Aqua…" he trailed off as she looked back at him, eyes shining. "Please… as a favor to your father, take this vacation to come to terms with your grief. If you don't, and don't even argue with me on this, you'll regret it forever."

She stared at him with shock. In all the time that she had spent working under him, he never allowed his personal and professional lives to mix, especially when it came to her and Ven. Yet here he was, using his position as her adoptive father to urge her to take the vacation.

It was this that compelled her to say, "Alright. See you in a week, Dad-er, I mean Chief."

"… And if you order now, you'll get an additional Blade Key absolutely FREE! One for you, and one for a frien—"

"Oh, shut up!" groaned Aqua as she shut her TV off. "Jeez, not even anything good on…" she thought to herself. It was day three of her vacation, and she still didn't feel any better than she did before.

"Waste of time… I should be helping Ven with some of his cases," she grumbled, standing up and heading to her tiny kitchen.

Ding dong!

"Huh?" She backtracked to the front hallway, staring at her door curiously. It was too early to be Ven or any of her other friends from the force…

Ding dong! Her doorbell rang again, this time with a slight sense of urgency.

"Hmm…" She quickly looked down at herself, decided that her pink sweatpants and white tank were appropriate, and walked over to the front door.

Opening it revealed a nervous silver-haired young man with startling aquamarine eyes. Although he was somewhat muscular, and wore clothes typical of someone from the roughest part of town, he didn't give off the threatening aura like so many of the younger generation of gang-members that she dealt with regularly.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

The young man, who had to be no older than seventeen or eighteen, looked unsure but nevertheless met her eyes. "Are you Aqua?" he asked her.

Concealing her shock, she answered, "I am."

"Oh, thank God," he breathed. Quickly digging into his pocket, he brought out an envelope. "I have a letter for you from Terra," he said, holding it out.

This time, she couldn't conceal her shock. "From Ter- who are you?" she asked as she tentatively took the envelope from him.

"My name is Riku." Before he could say more, however, his stomach suddenly growled. As he flushed with embarrassment, she couldn't help but giggle just a little bit. The expression that had crossed his face looked EXACTLY like Terra's did whenever he had been embarrassed.

"Why don't you come in and eat something while I interrogate you about Terra?" she asked impulsively.

"Uh… shouldn't you be worried that I might try to take advantage of you?" he asked, surprised at her offer.

She gave him a flat look. "Riku, I'm an officer of the law. I can and will disable you before you can say 'What happened?' if you even so much as THINK of taking advantage of me."

He finally gave a small grin at that as he answered, "Then I'd love to."

"So…," Aqua said as she brought two sandwiches on plates into her living room, holding one out for the silverette sitting on her couch, "Tell me how you know Terra."

Riku paused as he took hold of his plate. Finally setting it onto his lap, he took a deep breath. "Terra… was the one who saved me from a life I did not want."

"How?" Aqua asked, curious despite herself.

Taking a few bites, Riku swallowed and continued, "Well, I live in Hollow Bastion with two of my friends, inside of the Heartless' territory. I had always been known as one of the strongest kids of my neighborhood, however I had no interest in joining a gang due to my brother Repliku being a victim of gang violence."

Aqua straightened at the mention of his brother's name. "Repliku… he had been killed in the crossfire of a Heartless-Nobody skirmish, hadn't he?" Looking closer at Riku, she could now see the resemblance between the two. They could've passed for twins… how had she not seen that earlier?

Riku's eyes widened at her question. "How did you know that? That was years ago!"

"It was one of my first cases. We were able to find out that it had been a high-ranking member of the Nobodies named Larxene who had been his killer, but unfortunately before we could bring her to justice she had been killed during the Oblivion massacre committed by the Heartless two years ago," Aqua explained.

A tear fell from Riku's still-widened eyes as he heard this news. "I… wasn't aware of that…," he said distractedly.

"You mean, no one ever came to tell you?" she asked, surprised at his confession. As he shook his head no, she made a mental note to find out who the officer in charge of telling him was, and make sure that he suffers the ultimate humiliation to an officer of the law: donut-run duty. "Anyway, you were saying?"

Riku nodded his thanks at the change of topic, and continued his previous story. "Well… anyway, as I said earlier, thanks to Repliku I never had any interest in the gang life, unlike so many other kids in my neighborhood. I'm actually a straight-A senior in high-school—"

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks," replied Riku, grinning. "Anyway, I'm all set to be the first member of my family to earn a diploma instead of a GED. However… one day when I was fifteen, one of my friends had attended a party that was being held by a girlfriend of a Heartless. This friend… is notoriously a drinker, and he's a talkative drunk who doesn't know when to shut up. Apparently, he had gotten drunk and had been bragging about how I had saved him from some Nobodies who had tried to mug him. Of course, this peaked the attention of the Heartless members that had been attending as well. I'm guessing it was through them that Maleficent found out about me.

"Maleficent apparently had decided to check out my skills for her very own, and sent several of her Shadows to attack me while she watched from a distance. Since I didn't know that she had been considering recruiting me, I naturally fought and defeated them. It was after the fight that she had appeared for herself. Of course I was scared- I mean, even my best friend Sora (one of the two friends that I live with) knew who the leader of the Heartless was, and he's not the brightest bulb in the box- but I forced myself to not show it. My thinking at the time was if I showed no fear, she'd be amused enough to let me go without too much retribution."

Aqua was impressed with Riku's insight on Maleficent. He really was a smart kid.

"However, instead of letting me go, she decided that I should become a member myself. When she first made the offer, I told her I wasn't interested. Then, she made her threat- if I refused to join the Heartless, then she'd send Diablo himself to kill Sora and Kairi."

"Let me guess- Kairi's the other friend that lives with you and Sora," Aqua commented.

"Yes. She and Sora are actually together now, although at the time we were all just very good friends. But anyway, when I heard her threat, I panicked. After all, they're my friends, how could I've lived with myself if I had been the cause of their deaths? The thought of delaying my acceptance to gain time to contact the police crossed my mind, but I figured that Maleficent would probably have a Heartless spying on me if I delayed, and if she found out that I went to the authorities she'd kill my friends anyway."

Aqua said understandingly, "So you agreed to join to protect them."

Riku nodded. "It was the lowest point in my life. Here I was, agreeing to join one of the gangs that was involved with Repliku's death! I felt so terrible… I decided to stop attending classes and even avoided Sora and Kairi. After all, who would want to associate with a Heartless, even if he was forced into it against his will?

"The day of my initiation into the gang came. As dozens of Heartless stood around me, Maleficent decided to have me join via beat-in. If I fought back, I would be killed with my friends following close behind. I closed my eyes in order to make sure that I didn't do anything stupid. Suddenly, however, I heard the door bursting open, and I heard a man's voice telling me to get down. Without thinking, I obeyed, and I heard several gunshots being fired, followed by the sounds of heavy things dropping to the ground. Maleficent was furious, for she apparently recognized this guy. As she ordered her Heartless to attack, I felt the ones that were supposed to beat me in leave to follow her orders. I tried to peek, but then the new guy shouted at me not to look, he didn't want me to see this. As the sounds of fighting escalated, I became even more frightened. Would Maleficent think that I knew this guy, and had asked him to come? I didn't know what would happen if she had won.

"However, a few minutes later, suddenly I heard people fleeing. Maleficent's voice rang out, screaming that she'll have her revenge against this guy. Seconds later, the sounds of flight vanished. I stayed where I was, for of course I had no idea who this guy was. If Maleficent had known him, I figured, he must've been someone very powerful, maybe even the leader of another gang who liked to poach her Heartless prospects. After all, he had just defeated who knows how many Heartless!"

Her eyes widening, Aqua guessed who the mystery guy must have been. After all, Terra had been the best fighter of the force before he left, and fighting off Heartless (who weren't the best of fighters- which was obviously the reason that Maleficent had been willing to poach Riku) would've been an easy task for him. Was this incident the reason why her friend was now dead?

She listened as Riku continued to tell her of how the mystery man had revealed who he was, and of how Riku had fainted with shock at hearing the Unversed's third-in-command's name. Later, when he had come to, he had found himself at Terra's apartment. Terra, apparently, knew what his first reaction would be, and had quickly reassured him that he wasn't going to force Riku into the Unversed.

"What was his reasoning?" she asked him, surprised at this. From all accounts, Terra had seemingly embraced the gang life, and poaching a strong boy like Riku should've been the next logical step for him. After all, only Xehanort and his second-in-command Vanitas (code-name X-blade, Xehanort's top assassin), superseded his word, and those two would've jumped at the chance to have Riku in their clutches.

Riku answered, "Apparently, it was to prevent anyone from living the same life he had been living in for many years."

Aqua just barely managed to conceal her shock. Did that mean what she thought it meant?

Luckily, Riku didn't notice, and continued. "I asked him what he meant, but he only smiled and shook his head. He then told me how he had been performing some espionage work when he had come across my attack, and that was how he had learned of how I was being forced into the Heartless. Obviously, he didn't elaborate on how he found out about when and where my initiation was to take place, and I didn't ask. We then just started talking, you know, getting to know each other. Several hours later, he escorted me home, and gave me a cell-phone with his number pre-programmed into it. I thought that was odd, and I asked him about it. Apparently, he was leery about handing out his number, so he had decided to pull a spy move and just hand out phones with his number pre-programmed into them. As he told me this, I laughed, for that was one of the STUPIDEST things I'd ever heard. He laughed too, and then he left.

"However… that wasn't the end of my troubles, for my mother and step-father had found out from the friend who had gotten me into this whole mess about my supposed initiation. Without even listening to my side of the story, I was kicked out of the house, never to return. I was so scared… in one move that wasn't my fault, I became homeless. Panicking, I tried calling Sora and Kairi, but unfortunately their answering machines picked up. When I tried everyone else, they either weren't home or had the same reaction as my parents… so I used the phone Terra had given me, and explained the situation to him. He understood my situation, and offered his place for me to crash at."

Smiling a small smile, Aqua listened as Riku finished his tale of reconnecting with the two people he had been trying to protect, legally emancipating himself from his parents, going back to school, and just getting his life back on track. It turned out that Terra had supported him throughout all of his efforts, and even managed to help him whenever he could, whether it be extra cash or advice on how to apply for his first job.

"I'll freely admit that even though he was a member of the Unversed, Terra is and always will be my hero. That's why when he called me a week ago, asking me to come over to his place, I accepted immediately," Riku said. "When I arrived, he had a… I guess I'd call it a grim look on his face.

"'Riku, do you remember when we first met?' he had asked me.

"'Of course, how could I forget? You'd saved my life!' I remember replying.

"He chuckled lightly, but it was obvious that he was faking that laugh. 'Do you remember then, Riku, my answer for why I had saved you?'

"I had nodded, and answered, 'You told me it was to prevent anyone from living the same life you had been living in for many years. However, you never explained to me what you meant.'

"He just looked at me then. Then, he suddenly he stood up and walked over to his dresser. He then proceeded to tell me how years ago, he had been put into the same position as I had been, with Xehanort replacing Maleficent and Vanitas replacing Diablo. However, unlike me there had been no one to save him. My jaw dropped open as he proceeded to tell me that he had been working under the rug trying to undermine the Unversed, the Heartless, and any other gang out there. After all, who'd expect the third-in-command of the Unversed would be betraying his own gang? Pulling out that envelope," Riku pointed at the white envelope that had been lying on the table between them, "he then said that I needed to do him one last favor- to deliver it to you. It wasn't long afterward that I heard about his death on the news, and that's how I came to be here."

As he got back to his half-eaten sandwich (which he had neglected during his tale), Aqua sat there stunned at that latest revelation. Terra had left the force, left his friends and family… because he was forced to? She felt shame that she had ever thought that he'd leave willingly to pursue a life of crime.

"Riku," she suddenly said, drawing the attention of the feasting teen. As he looked up at her curiously, she continued, "What were your plans for after high school?"

Swallowing the last of his sandwich, Riku didn't waste any time answering. "I was hoping that if I was good enough, I could become an policeman myself. Even though I know that the Academy is tough, I still want to be able to protect people, and maybe even help someone like Terra had helped me."

"Well, when the time comes, why don't you use me as a reference? If you manage to pass the Academy, I'll even see if I can't pull some strings to get you a job here," she offered.

Riku's jaw dropped to the floor. "That's really generous of you," he finally managed to say. He suddenly glanced over at the clock. "Crap! I still have to study for a test!" he exclaimed, quickly grabbing his plate.

Aqua quickly stood up as she said, "Oh, don't worry about the plate, I'll take care of that."

As she took his plate, he asked, "Are you sure? I don't mind—"

"Really, it's no problem!" she quickly reassured him. As he headed for the door, she called out, "Oh, and Riku?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have that cell-phone you mentioned earlier?"

"Uh… yeah, I do, why?"

"Give it here." As Riku gave her the nondescript cell-phone, Aqua quickly programmed her home, work, and cell numbers into it. Handing it back, she informed him, "There! Now, if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me by any of those numbers. I'd like to be there for you and your friends, just like Terra had been."

Riku looked shocked by her generosity. "Thank you," he answered seriously. "You have no idea what that means to me."

Aqua smiled, then gently shoved him towards the door as she chuckled, "Now, go on, study for that test! You don't want to get an 'F', now, do you?"

Laughing along, Riku finally said his good-byes and left. Once he had left, Aqua took a deep breath to gather some courage, then walked back into her family room, where the envelope still lay on the coffee table. Picking it up, she could see her name cleanly written in Terra's handwriting. Before she could change her mind, she quickly turned it over and ripped it open. She then began to read:

Aqua.

I know that you're probably angry for me leaving you, Ven, and Chief Eraqus, and I want you to know that it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

I'm sure you've met Riku at this point, and he's explained to you how the two of us had met. What he didn't tell you was that I had been spying on Maleficent for a long time, and I actually witnessed Maleficent's threat to him. It had reminded me so much of what I had been forced to do… I had to save him. Riku has a light inside of him that you rarely see in the kids from the roughest parts of town, and I knew in an instant that if he had been forced into the same life I had, it would've broken him even more than it had broken me.

You see, a week before I left you guys, Xehanort had managed to corner me after a tough case. Just like Maleficent, he had ordered me to join the Unversed, and just like Riku I had initially refused. However, he used his trump card- he'd send Vanitas, who had also been there at the time, after you and Ven, and Vanitas assured me that he would make sure that just before the two of you died, you'd both know the reason behind your murders… me. Not only that, Vanitas made a comment that he'd make sure to have some 'fun' with you and Ven before the two of you died. You don't want to know of the look on his face when he said this… it sickened and terrified me. In order to make sure that no harm would ever come to you guys, I agreed to join Xehanort.

Yes, I've done some stuff as a member of the Unversed that will most likely send me to Hell to burn forever. However, I never did lose track of who I really was on the inside- someone who wishes for justice to prevail. Are you aware of an informant who identifies himself as 'The Lingering Sentiment', who always gave good tips on where some of the higher-level gang members could be found? Yes, it's exactly as it sounds- I am he. I laugh at the thought that even as Xehanort sent me on missions to spy on his rivals, I used the opportunity to gather information for my former co-workers about both the Heartless and the Unversed. I'm not sure of how successful I was at concealing my identity from Chief Eraqus and several others of the force, but I DO know that Xehanort, Maleficent, and the rest of those despicable gangs had no idea that I was never truly loyal to them. In fact, I've created a plan that may help get rid of several of the most powerful members of the gang world for good.

I've been laying the seeds of a massive trap for many months now. If I am successful, then Xehanort, Maleficent, Vanitas, Diablo, and many others will lay dead, never again to trouble the city of Radiant Garden again. In the process, I'll be revealing my true self to Xehanort, which will most likely kill me. My goal is simple: to take down as many of them as I can with me to Hell.

Aqua… I'm so scared. Even though I know this has to be done… I'm terrified that I may fail, and our enemies will survive. But most of all, I'm terrified that you'll never know how I've felt for you, all of these long years.

I love you. I've loved you for a long time now, but never had the chance to muster up enough courage to admit it to you. During the best years of my life, the ones spent with you and Ven, probably the only thing that had held me back was the fear that I'd lose you as a friend. A life without you was truly not worth living at all- a fact that I've had beaten into me as Xehanort's third-in-command. After I'd taken up this life, I knew that I'd hurt you even more than I already had if I tried to make contact with you, and thus to spare you I refrained.

It is this fact that compels me to write this letter, and the fact that I've always wanted you to know the truth. As I'm writing this, I can almost see you, sitting on that ugly yet oh-so-comfy couch, dressed in those pink sweatpants that you had bought during the last shopping trip that the three of us took together. Even though I'd complained about going, in truth I had been so happy just to spend time with you.

God… I miss you so, so much, and it hurts so much at the thought that I'll never see you again. I'll never again see your beautiful face, framed by the hair that I had always found so beautiful, even though I've made fun of it. I'll never again see that breathtaking smile light up your face… I could go on, and on, and on. Shit, I'll never even know how it feels for the two of us to be together like I've often dreamed many a time.

I can hear someone coming… even though I would rather write more in this letter, I have to end it here in case it's one of Xehanort's minions. It's up to you to let Ven and Chief know about what I've written here… but please believe me when I say that every word is the truth.

I have, and will always love you.

Terra.

Aqua clutched the letter to her chest after reading the final line.

"Oh, Terra… you'd suffered for so long… why didn't you tell us about Xehanort threatening you? We could've helped you… we could've helped you-u-u," she sobbed. As she sat there crying for several minutes, she could feel a darkness in her heart that had lingered since she first found out about Terra leaving finally lifting, thanks to the truth finally allowing itself to be known.

Once she had calmed herself a bit, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Terra…" she said, feeling the need to say this aloud even if he would never be able to hear her, "you needn't have worried about me rejecting you, for I loved you, too. And your plan did succeed… so thank you."

The door bell suddenly rang, then the sounds of her front door opening reached her ears. "Aqua! It's Ven! I've brought Dad and chocolate in case you were still feeling like crap!" came her brother's voice.

Coming to a quick decision, she called back, "I'm in the living room… and I've got something to show you guys!"

A/N: This was a prize commission on deviantArt. Man... writing an AU story was HARDER than I thought it'd be! Please leave feedback on how I did! Oh, and sorry for any OOC-ness that may have happened... I feel like there's some in there...