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lyssala · 4 years

Text

Day 9 – Plot of Your Favorite Movie

Pairings: Terra & Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Modern AU where Terra and Aqua are coworkers who do not get along, but unbeknownst to them, they are actually wonderful friends

Rating: K+

Words: 15377

Notes: Another fic I have wanted to do for ages! Its based off of You've Got Mail and the musical She Loves Me (both of which are based on the same source material). I've always loved the setup for these works and have always wanted to try my hand at doing an au with a similar setup. Also! Its a Christmas fic so Happy Holidays my friends!! (also in case you know/listen to the music, Vanilla Ice Cream was my signature audition song and it has such a special place in my heart, which is why the title is not Christmas related at all LOL)

As always a HUGE thanks to @mimiplaysgames who helped me edit this fic while she was on vacation. She really helped me cultivate the right tone for this fic (because its another sorta rival feelings one) and I can just NEVER thank her enough. She's amazing and SHE JUST UPDATED A FIC YESTERDAY so you all should go read it immediately <3

AO3

He Came to Offer Me Vanilla Ice Cream

Inspired By: Three Letters, Vanilla Ice Cream, She Loves Me (She Loves Me, 2016 Revival Cast)

Dear OftheShire,

I’m so sorry to hear you have to work so much over the holidays. I understand the feelings all too well, unfortunately. My saving grace is that I at least don’t get sick of listening to Christmas music! Customers, yes, absolutely, but hearing All I Want for Christmas for the tenth time on one shift keeps me going strong. I even sing along to the horror of my coworkers. I do love the holidays, and the high consumerism the holiday has turned into can’t take that away from me.

The weather, the music, the smells, the feeling of it just reminds me of being a little girl, hanging up my stocking and double checking the cookies I left out for Santa. I would be so ecstatic when there would be chunks missing in the cookies in the morning that I’d completely miss the crumbs in my dad’s beard! Did you believe in Santa too? (Also totally sorry to be the bearer of bad news if you still believed in Santa D: ) Some people find it cruel to let their kids believe only to then tell them it was a lie, but I have so many fond memories of trying to look for Santa on Christmas Eve and my mom playing along that she saw reindeer in the distance that I never found it cruel. If I ever have children, I think I’d like to share that with them too.

My parents live back in my home state, which, believe it or not, gets even colder than where I live now! I grew up really far north, which is wonderful in every other seasons but winter. Even growing up there can’t get me used to the cold and the snow. They’re actually coming to visit me for the first time since I started Grad school out here for Christmas! I can’t wait to see them. Are you close with your family?

Congratulations on being able to graduate next semester yourself! I still have a ways to go but the fact you’re already almost done gives me hope I can survive myself. What did you say you studied again? It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t seem to recall. That’s probably because I haven’t had my coffee yet, believe me that’s my first stop before class :P

I probably should get on that or I’m going to be late, another long day means multiple cups of coffee (and maybe a few cinnamon rolls).

The store was thankfully busy. Not so much for Terra who had to pay much more at attention than usual, but for the store itself. Sure they were the only bookstore in the mall, which helped significantly but at the same time they were independently owned and needed the revenue to keep the doors open.

He looked down the aisle he was standing nearby quickly and had to dodge a few younger kids running to the back of the store where the children’s books were. One of their hands reached out to pull at one of the books but his friend shoved him to keep moving, making the book launch towards the floor. Terra reached out to grab it, placing it carefully back where it was supposed to go. Granted, judging by the complete disarray of every other shelf it really didn’t matter.

The moment he cleaned this aisle, it was a disaster again. He’d have to leave it for the afternoon when they’d be a little slower; the thought alone made him roll his eyes. That would thrill the afternoon shift lead he was sure.

Terra pulled his phone from his apron pocket, glancing at the clock. She’d be here in about an hour, but that also meant he got to leave soon which was more than enough to get him through the rest of his shift. He knew he should put his phone back in his pocket as he was on the floor; even if he was the lead he didn’t like to do things he didn’t let the kids do. Still he couldn’t resist peeking at his email.

Nothing.

He quickly opened the app just to see if he didn’t get a notification but there were no new messages there either.

“Terra!” a voice crackled so loudly in his hear he almost both dropped his phone and ripped the headpiece from his ear. “Terra, can you hear me?”

He reached up to grab the button hanging on the wire of his headset. “Yes, Sora, for the thousandth time, I can always hear you when you speak at a normal volume.”

“Sorry,” Sora’s voice was sheepish but Terra could practically see the smile on the younger boy’s lips. “I have a return. I got everything set up but I need your approval.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Excuse me, sir?” another voice said nearby but judging by the fact she wasn’t shouting his name it wasn’t one of his employees. “I was looking for something to get my grandson, but I’m unsure what to look for.”

When did this aisle get so full of people? Was the whole store full up again? Had an hour and a half gone by yet?

Terra leaned back hoping to catch the nearest employee he could see who wasn’t on register. Silver hair and blue eyes looked back at him, putting some books back. Terra gestured for him to come over.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have Riku help you find everything you need as I have to assist at the front, is that okay?”

The woman looked a little disgruntled at first but seemed to lighten up when Riku actually stepped into the aisle. “Yes, that’ll be fine. Come with me, young man.”

“I’m sorry,” Terra mouthed when Riku gave a wince but Terra had to keep moving to go finish out the return for Sora before he started yelling in Terra’s ear again. He probably wouldn’t even let Sora use it if he wasn’t always on registers; he was personable and quick, easy to strike a conversation and get the job done.

“Terra,” Sora said again, though this time in an exaggerated whisper. “They’re getting mad.”

Of course they were, everyone was so much more impatient as soon as the Christmas trees go up. He honestly felt that way sometimes too, but the words from his friend’s last message rang in his head. She sounded like she loved Christmas so much, and everything that went into it. For some reason it made him smile at her childlike glow even though all he knew was her typed words and nothing more. She just oozed passion in every message he got from her.

He tried not to think about it too much but it was hard not to; especially when he looked forward to what she was going to say to him next; what he would say to her helped him through these longs days. Terra knew he didn’t quite have a connection with every single person he met, so he was astounded to find that easy communication with her, even though they really never met. No name, no personal identification information, no pictures, just their messages back and forth. Still, it was something special to him.

Terra moved to step behind the register Sora was standing behind; he looked visibly relieved.

“Sorry, about that, Ma’am,” Terra said with a smile, as he leaned in to punch in his code that would let the return go through. He trusted Sora enough to do it right so there was no need to look over it. “You’re good to finish.”

“Thanks,” Sora said, moving back to go about the rest of the transaction as quick as his fingers would allow.

Terra moved to grab some of the books on the back counter that were probably other returns or go backs but really he just wanted to look over the store. There was a small line but with Sora on one and Xion on the other they’d handle registers just fine. Terra glanced around the store, scanning over the other employees scattered around working; if only to make sure everyone was actually working.

There was one missing, and usually it was hard to miss such red hair anywhere. Figures Lea was late. Terra would give Lea a little longer before he called. For the time being he went to place the books back and help on the floor. He had been working here since high school, he knew how to handle both the product and the people, even if he didn’t always characterize himself as a people person. He could still smile and help; though he usually found a lot of people went to the kids to ask for help instead. He apparently looked too intimidating to work at a bookstore.

In the very least, the busy days meant time went by faster. It also made him forget to keep looking at his phone to see if it went off at all. In fact before he knew it, he was turning to stand face to face with the afternoon lead.

“Jesus,” he grunted, taking a step back from her. “Do you have to sneak up on me?”

Aqua was shorter than him, but she was plenty loud; if she wanted to announce her presence she would’ve. Currently, she looked very disinterested in the fact she had to talk to him. Even still, her blue eyes were bright under the store lighting a small smile in the corner of her lips. He knew it absolutely didn’t have to do with him, and probably everything to do with that Christmas spirit she loved so much.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not my fault you were off in your own head like always.”

He decided to ignore that, however, it was hard to ignore that Aqua was the only one who could look pretty under terrible mall lighting. He placed another book on the shelf in front of him. Terra may not get along with her but it wasn’t like he was blind. He knew the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled and how the shade of her eyes was so unique it was almost like the color of the ocean…not that he would admit that to her or anyone for that matter.

“Did you leave a list of what was done today and what still has to be done?”

“Always do,” he grunted, grabbing another book off the ground to put back.

She clicked her tongue, looking around the area. “This place looks like a mess.”

“Oh, did Scrooge happen to forget it’s only a few weeks before Christmas?”

“Cute, Terra, but you’re the one who hasn’t worn a single Christmas color to work, not me.”

He glanced over to her and sure enough she was wearing not only a red dress but green leggings and even a Santa hat over her blue hair. “Remember what I wear every day, do you?”

“Only your lack of any holiday spirit what so ever.” She reached over to push in a book on the bookshelf near his hand, because, clearly, only she could clean the store correctly.

A twinge of annoyance went down his spine. “Maybe if I didn’t have to listen to you nag at me every day I’d feel more festive.”

“I only nag you because if I didn’t, you’d day dream through the whole shift.”

Well, sort of fair; Terra knew he had a tendency to zone out at times but he wasn’t about to admit that to her. Thankfully, Lea chose that moment to scurry in behind the register, nudging Riku out of the way so he could log in and sneak in the back room. To Lea’s credit he almost had it, and Terra probably would’ve let it slide just because Lea was usually pretty creative when it came to excuses as to being late.

“Nice of you to join us, Lea,” Aqua said without turning her head to him as he snuck behind a bookshelf. “An hour late.”

“Yeah, you know, about that-”

“Go get ready for the shift, don’t worry I have a job for you.”

Lea grumbled something but slouched away probably to the back room.

“See you guys!” Sora waved as he headed out with Roxas and Xion both zipping up their jackets.

“See you,” Terra said, raising a hand to wave.

“See you tomorrow, Aqua,” Xion said, turning to wave goodbye herself.

“It’ll be fun,” Aqua smiled back at the kids who were hurrying to the front.

Terra must’ve scoffed too loud because she was looking back over at him. “Does that mean I’m done? Can I go home now?”

Kairi was already logging in on the register with Olette tying her apron around her back. It was still a little busy but they should be okay. Not that Terra was going to offer to stay to work with Aqua; she was such a control freak it was impossible to work with her.

“As long as you left me the list,” she said, walking away from him.

“I hope it’s up to your impeccable standards.”

Aqua wasn’t looking at him at all, not even a glance; she just continued to where the girls were probably going for the list he really did leave for her and to divvy up the jobs for the night.

“Yikes, dude.”

Terra nearly jumped at the sound of the voice right behind him. He turned his head to see way too familiar blond hair and blue eyes, and a toothy grin that told Terra not to trust whatever the next words were going to be.

“You’re really terrible at flirting.”

“Ventus,” Terra sighed, placing the last book in his arms on the correct shelf. “That was not even remotely what was going on. Not even a little bit.”

“Yeah, cause you got that mystery girl right?”

“I don’t…I don’t have anyone, okay.” Though Terra was tempted to pull out his phone to check to see if he had any new messages from the very person Ven was implying but that would only prove his little brother correct, and Terra didn’t need that right now. He did hope she had said something back though. “She’s just a nice person I talk to. Aqua on the other hand, I think we’d murder each other if we had to be in the same space for too long.”

“Whatever,” Ven snorted. “Are you done? I’m starving.”

Terra glanced back up to the counter; Riku was ringing out someone as Lea was rushing up, hastily tying his apron. Aqua went over the plan with the girls but Terra couldn’t hear a thing. It would probably be strict down to the letter of what they’d have to do knowing Aqua. Ah well, it wasn’t his shift anymore anyways. “Yeah, let me get my things.”

Dear Bytheseaside,

I cannot believe there is a person on this planet that actually doesn’t get sick of that song. I’m pretty sure I’ve been sick of it for at least an eternity now. I guess that’s a testament to you though, patient through and through. I appreciate the holidays as well though I wish I didn’t have to work mostly through them all and I’m sorry to hear so do you. Granted I would like to see you singing along to the songs as you worked, I hope there’s dancing too, possibly a hair brush microphone? I’d assume go all out when it comes to Mariah Carey.

I’m so greatly offended that you could ever say that Santa Claus is not real. How could you think that me, a twenty-six year old male, would ever believe anything but that a man went to every house in the world one night on flying reindeer? To answer your question, yes, I did as a kid, so did my younger brother. Before you ask, no I didn’t tell him until he was old enough. He was an innocent kid, very naïve, very trusting, it actually sort of made me want to believe again just by having him believe it so much. I say that because he’s a pain in my ass now. It was fun though, I used to make cookies with him, leave out the milk, write Santa on some gift tags. Now he just makes cookies for himself. Sorry, Santa.

If that didn’t answer your question, I am close to my family though it’s just my brother, me and my dad. We all still live in the same place we grew up in so no drastic change like you had. I even go to grad school in the same town, I’m fairly boring honestly. I’ve traveled quite a lot for vacations since my dad and brother love to travel but otherwise we just stay put in our little town where it snows in the winter but I don’t think it’s too cold. That’s exciting you’ll get to visit with your parents soon! I honestly don’t think I could live that far away from mine, so you have all my respect that you just up and left to go study where you wanted to.

Oh, hey, thanks! It’s still a little surreal honestly. I never thought I’d ever see the end of school, especially at Midwestern where I go. I not only live in the town, but I went to undergrad there too. I’ve seen its buildings enough for my taste. Oh, it’s no worries, I have the joyful career of becoming an English teacher, aren’t you thrilled for me? I thankfully have experience working with high schoolers and they sometimes find me intimidating so I’m hoping that will carry over when I tell them they have to read The Scarlet Letter.

Okay, knowing you, there’s probably enough sugar in any given cup of coffee. I have no idea how you could stand cinnamon rolls on top of that too, but I guess I’m not surprised either. You could rival my brother’s love for sugar. Please don’t end up in a sugar coma before you even get to class :P

Aqua hummed as she hung up her jacket in the employee room. It was some mash up of Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town but she couldn’t help it. Christmas was so close now, her family would be visiting and everything just oozed with holiday cheer; especially the bells she clipped into her hair for today’s outfit. Even though she was stuck at work all night she felt warm and light, like nothing could quite get under her skin; she sure hoped it stayed the case considering the closer to Christmas, the ruder customers got. Oh well, she’d meet it with a smile, it was the only way to get through the day.

She tied her apron behind her back, slipping her phone in the front pocket (though not without checking her messages first, though so far it was as empty as it was when she left for work). It was okay, he worked a lot too and always was in school; he was probably as busy as she was. The fact he even made time for a few messages was still enough to keep her good mood up.

Aqua kept humming, glancing up at the written schedule on the board to see who she was working with tonight. Everyone had different strengths so she liked to place jobs with people who would excel at them, and it would make their time go by a little faster when they weren’t forced to do something they hated. It was pretty typical; Kairi, Lea, the twins, Xion, Riku, and….no, wait, that had to be a mistake. She reached up to trace the dates, bringing her finger down to make sure she was reading it right.

The door opened making her turn her head, but the person shuffling into the room only confirmed she was reading the schedule correctly. “Terra?”

“In the flesh,” he snorted, but his back was to her as he was shrugging off his jacket; his way-too-light jacket for this weather, what was wrong with that man?

“Is this a mistake?”

“Wish it was,” he said, reaching for his apron to drop over his head. “I’d much rather be home.”

Aqua pressed her lips together, looking back at the schedule. Well, it was only two weeks till Christmas, she supposed she could understand why they may want to schedule two leads but at the same time, did it have to be him?

She didn’t hate Terra. He was a nice guy, quiet and he was very patient with customers and the kids who worked here; in fact she was pretty sure he had more patience in one fraction of his body than she possessed all together. At the same time though, he was so laid back he let things slide far too much which drove her crazy. She could deal with it when it was just in passing, when he told her what was done all morning so she knew what to fix all night, but working a whole shift together?

She looked up at the future days she was scheduled and had to bite back a groan. For everyday she was scheduled until Christmas they were working together? Okay, she was coming in tomorrow morning to talk to someone about this or she’d likely not make it till Christmas.

“Okay,” she said, turning around to face Terra. He wasn’t looking at her, but down at his phone, scrolling through something. “I assume neither of us care for this arraignment?”

“Fair assessment,” he said, still not looking up.

“Then let’s split up the store. I’ll handle the front half and you handle the back half. Registers will be neutral.”

“What is this?” Terra did look up that time, arching an eyebrow at her. “A war meeting?”

“It’s retail in Christmas, of course it’s a war meeting.”

Much to her surprise he actually smiled at her. Well, he also rolled his eyes and shook his head but still. Terra dropped his phone in his apron pocket, before grabbing a headset to put in is ear, clipping the radio into his back pocket as he walked back over to the door. “Fine, should I lay down a boundary line to make sure no one crosses it?”

“Of course, I’ll give you money to buy the duct tape.”

“I have a brother, believe me, I know how to handle boundary lines.” Terra went to push the door open but it swung open on itself.

“No one can say anything,” Lea said as he walked in, pointing to the both of them. “I’m on time today.”

“Christmas miracles,” Terra said, reaching out to push at Lea’s head before Terra caught the door open, leaving without another word.

“Good, because if you were late one more time I was going to put you on register the whole night just because I know how much you love it,” Aqua said, watching as Lea shrugged out of his long jacket.

“Wait,” he arched an eyebrow as he looked back at her. “Are you and Terra both working tonight?”

“Ah, yeah, seems like the boss wants more hands at night.”

Lea got this grin on his lips, devilish almost, not that the flaming red hair helped. “Oh, this is going to be a grand night.”

Aqua decided not to ask what he meant by that and moved to grab a headset and radio before leaving the room to head to the floor; there at least she could assign the other workers their jobs. She hoped everything went quickly and smoothly. She really wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Terra all night.

Thankfully, he seemed to feel the same.

For the most part it was easy to help customers at the front of the store, keeping an eye on the registers, straightening and restocking when she could. The customer volume was absolutely going up every day so she could understand why there were two leads on the floor but that didn’t mean she was completely happy about it. Though to his credit Terra stayed to the back of the store and helped any customers she sent that way. She knew he’d prefer to be back there as opposed to the front where she got the brunt of the social force.

“Permission to step across the boundary, your highness?”

She looked up from straightening some self-help books to see Terra with both his hands up in defense. “Depends, what’s your business?”

“I would very much like to leave the store to get dinner.”

Was it that time already? Aqua glanced over to the registers where Sora and Xion were busy ringing out. Roxas was probably still in the kid’s section fixing the display she asked him to adjust, Riku was upfront helping someone with the new releases, and while Aqua couldn’t see Lea or Kairi they were probably wandering around somewhere.

“I’ll even throw the incentive to check the back of the store to make sure my standards are as high as yours.” He was watching her but his hands were in the front of his apron, probably fiddling with his phone or something.

“Why do you think we’re so busy?” she asked, pushing another book back into place. “High standards.”

“Oh, yeah, nothing to do with the fact we’re the only book store in the nearest 50 mile radius,” he snorted.

Okay, fair point; not that she was going to tell him that. “Yes, you can go, just tell me when you’re finished so I can take mine too.”

“Oh, she takes breaks does she?”

“Don’t be such an ass,” she said, but admittedly was choking back a small laugh. Aqua would just toss that up to the fact she was still in plenty of a good mood. “Just go.”

“Whatever you say, princess.” Terra gave a vague sort of wave as he walked towards the front of the store until he was completely out of sight.

“Do you even think they know?” Lea’s voice said from nearby, but Aqua didn’t pay too much attention to it, she just went back to fixing the shelves she was working on.

“Oh, God, no,” Kairi giggled. “They would never flirt with each other as much as they do if they knew they were doing it.”

Aqua did turn to look that time, which was the only reason she knew they were talking about her; considering both Lea and Kairi were peering around the end of the bookshelves in that row watching her with near matching shit-eating grins on their lips. Aqua had to ignore the heat that rose to her face that the insane implication she would ever flirt with Terra, or vice versa for that matter. That was absurd. You didn’t flirt with people you could barely be in the same room with.

“No way,” she said pointing towards them. “How many times have I told you both, you aren’t allowed to work near each other. All you do is talk and gossip. Lea, go make sure kids haven’t bombarded Roxas in the children’s section, then go make sure everyone has been helped. Kairi, please start on the other end of this row with me.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Lea said, vanishing behind the shelves.

Kairi was still giggling but she started straightening the books like she was asked. Aqua wanted to ask the younger girl how they got it in their heads that either Terra or herself would ever consider flirting with each other, but at the same time she didn’t want to open that door. Ever.

Aqua’s phone buzzed and her heart leapt up to her throat. She really knew she couldn’t look, and she shouldn’t look, it set a bad example; she wasn’t always as disciplined as she looked though. She pushed her apron pocket open, peeking down at the bright screen with her heart pounding in her chest. It promptly sunk into her stomach when she saw it was just an email telling her about some sale.

“Message from the mystery man?”

Aqua’s head snapped up to see Kairi still looking at the books as she worked on, making them look neat again. It wasn’t a terrible surprise as Kairi tended to work afternoon shifts with Aqua, and she may have mentioned she was talking to someone a few times. “Ah, no, not this time.”

“Do you know his name yet?”

“No, but that’s okay,” Aqua said, taking a small breath before going back to her job.

“Aren’t you worried he’s like sixty years old or something? Or like a murderer?”

“I’m not saying everyone you meet on the internet is good,” Aqua said. “But when you talk to someone enough, you just sort of…know them. I don’t know, I may not know his name or what he looks like but he’s sweet.” She paused. “And he said he was twenty-six so he’s only a little bit older than me.”

“Do you feel like you know him already then?” Kairi asked. She wasn’t teasing this time, genuinely curious.

“Sort of,” Aqua said, a smile pulling at her lips at just the thought of their conversations. “He’s very kind, and articulate. He’s said once or twice people find him intimidating but to me he just seems so gentle, you know? Especially when he talks about his little brother. I know what he likes to do for fun, favorite foods, movies, what he wants to do for a living, and ah…”

“What?”

Aqua paused for a moment, feeling a small bundle of nerves in her stomach again. He mentioned it so briefly in his last message and she had been torn over what to do about it ever since…if she even wanted to do something about it. “He sorta mentioned where he went to college.”

“Was it bad? Oh wait, was it good? Like Ivy League good?”

“No, well, I mean good but…it’s where I go to school.”

Kairi nearly dropped the book she was holding. “Wait, you guys go to the same school and don’t even know it?”

Aqua nodded; it had been about her same reaction when she read that one sentence. He probably didn’t even mean to say since up till then, they never gave away and facts that led onto where they lived.

“You could know him in real life and not even know it.”

“I think I’d know it,” she rolled her eyes. Aqua may not know him at sight, but she was pretty sure from having a conversation with him that she’d be able to tell how he talked, how he presented himself. She still paused, looking over to Kairi. “Should I ask him to meet? Like on campus or something? Would that be too much?”

“I mean, I don’t think it would be too much,” Kairi shrugged. “People meet online all the time these days. It just depends on how comfortable you feel about it or if you like the mystery more than the man.”

Aqua knew the answer to that question. She’d love to meet him, to sit across the table from him over some warm coffee, to see if how she pictured his voice was really how it was, to hear his laugh, see his smile. The thoughts alone made her stomach flip anxiously. What if he wasn’t anything like how she pictured? Would it make a difference?

“I think I would…” Aqua started. “Meet him that is.”

“Then ask him,” Kairi said, standing up on her toes to get a book on the top shelf. “Worst he could say is no and then you’re no worse off than you are now.”

That was a good point. Aqua squatted down towards the floor to fix a few books. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to ask. Maybe he’d like it too. Maybe he wouldn’t but then they could still talk just like they have been. She thought about meeting him so many times before now, ever since she sent that first message a few months ago.

She liked him, more than she cared to admit to anyone but herself. It was silly maybe, but he always brought a smile to her face, that had to be worth something. It had to be worth a risk.

Dear OftheShire,

Of course there’s dancing, geez, boy, do you even know me?? Not a hairbrush, no, but absolutely any candy cane shaped object I can find. It’s been described as both a wonder and a hot mess so I take that with very high regard. If you ever wander into where I work I’ll be sure to show you, and probably embarrass you and myself so much you’ll never want to be seen in public with me lmao

That’s right! I forgot you mentioned your little brother before. Well, you sound like a great big brother to play along with the façade, even just for his sake. I don’t have any siblings myself so I never got to share the joy of having to share my room or bathroom with anyone. He seems very sweet, even if you insist he’s a pain in your ass (ps I can totally tell you love him, don’t play so cool :P ) Plus he sounds like he likes sweets as much as me so I can get behind that!

It’s so sweet you’re so close to your family too! So much that you don’t consider leaving them, that tells me a lot about you and how much they must love you too :D Okay, wait, how have we been talking so much and you never told me you traveled! I haven’t gotten to do so very much but I’ve always wanted to. Are we talking like “oh, hey, I just get around the country every so often” or “I’m a damn world traveler and have eaten things you’d never dreamed of and can speak five languages on command”? I mean both are cool, but I need to know which one it is.

Savor it, my friend! Especially as a teacher, cause, hate to break it to you but technically you’re going to be in school for a very long time. High school too? Wow, you’re a brave man! See, you keep saying people find you intimidating, but, like, to me you seem so mellow and gentle? Is it something about you physically? Are you like a seven foot football player or wrestler or something? Also, excuse you, don’t judge my sugar intake, I’m perfectly capable of not dying from sugar intake, :P (More reasons why I love your brother already too)

Hey, so, weird thing. I sort of go to Midwestern too. Small world right! I can’t believe we’ve been talking for so long and we could be in the same class. How weird is that? I was wondering if maybe you wanted to meet for coffee on campus or something? At that little café in the library? Like this Thursday? Please don’t feel like you have to! But I thought it might be nice to actually see each other in person since we happened to actually live in the same town. I can like wear bells in my hair and have a copy of The Hobbit since I know that was your favorite book as a kid so you know it’s me. Just let me know!

“I don’t know why I had to come with you,” Ven said as he walked down the sidewalk next to Terra. That statement, of course, was accompanied by Ven’s big grin, meaning he was highly amused that his older brother asked him to come with him to a possible, maybe, sort of, kind of date.

Was it? Terra had no idea, but he’d never claim to be good at picking up on things like that. All he knew was he stared at her message for a lot longer than he should’ve, even stunned that someone as nice as her would actually want to see him in person. It was easy to agree then, to feel excited to finally meet the person behind the words but now that he was walking towards the campus library, the bright lights from the building looming over him, all he felt like was throwing up.

“Even if she was a murderer I’m pretty sure you could take her,” Ven continued.

“I don’t think she’s a murderer,” Terra snorted, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. “Or even a threat.”

“I hate to break it to you, Ter, but you aren’t always the best judge of character.”

That was…fair. “Can’t you be good, quiet moral support?”

Ven clicked his tongue looking up to the building. “If you wanted quiet support you probably should’ve brought like Riku from your work or something. I’m your brother, I’m legally entitled to give you a hard time.”

“I don’t think that’s true. If me and dad both die then you’re legally entitled to my things I guess.”

Ven whistled. “Books, books, and more books I’m so thrilled.”

Terra reached out to shove at Ven’s head, making the younger boy laugh. It was why Terra bought Ven in the first place; if anyone could make Terra not get wrapped up too much in his own thoughts, it was Ven.

“There it is,” he said, pointing to a particularly well illuminated section of the library. It was easy to see through the large windows where students were in line to get a late night caffeine fix or snacks; it was fairly late, he had to wait till he was off work to even come since Aqua already requested the night off and someone had to be there.

“Don’t look so nervous.” Ven nudged Terra’s shoulder. “She already likes you enough to talk to you all the time, this is just without a screen in between. No big deal.” Ven reached for the door handle, but Terra pulled Ven away from it.

“God, what?” he asked, arching an eyebrow up.

Terra knew he was acting sort of childish but he couldn’t help but feel the nerves in his stomach reaching up through his chest. “What if she isn’t even there?”

Ven paused for a second before grabbing a hold of Terra’s arm, dragging him over to one of the side windows. Ven leaned up close to the glass leaving Terra out of view so that way Ven would be the one seen if anyone looked over. “Okay, what did she say she was wearing again?”

He was a good brother. “Ah, she said she’d have bells in her hair, and a book, The Hobbit.”

“You guys are such nerds,” Ven snorted. “Alright, alright, let me…see…” He let out a low whistle that made Terra look up.

“Wait, what? Is that good or bad?”

“I dunno, man, she doesn’t really look your type but she does look like mine, maybe I should go in instead of you.”

It took Terra a moment with his heart nearly in his throat to realize Ven was teasing. “You’re a shit, will you tell me the truth?”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Ven laughed, looking back into the café. “Alright so, bells in the hair is kind of common around Christmas, but the book would be an easier…way…to tell, ummm…Oh!”

“What? Do you see her?” Terra asked, nearly going up behind Ven to see too.

Ven was quiet for a second, and he wasn’t teasing anymore which didn’t bode well. “Ah, well, she’s your type for sure, but you’re probably not going to like it.”

Terra had no idea what that was supposed to mean. He quickly slipped in next to Ven who nodded over to a table off to the side of the café. Terra saw the book first, fingers tapping on the cover, anxiously, impatiently maybe. Maybe he should’ve known before he even looked at her face, the familiar shade of blue hair, eyes he already knew glancing over at the door when it opened. Hell, he even knew the bells she was wearing in her hair.

He quickly turned around, leaning his back against the window instead. This couldn’t be…it was a joke right? The girl, the kind, funny, compassionate girl he had been talking to for months it…couldn’t be Aqua, could it?

It had to be. He didn’t tell anyone but Ven, who may tease Terra sure but would never do anything cruel to him. Maybe the girl had said something to someone else? Like she was nervous to meet him too so she said something to a friend who offered to wait for her, that friend unknowingly being Aqua.

Terra turned his head to look back in the room to see if anything could confirm that theory. It didn’t though, not when he saw the hope flicker in her eyes every time someone walked in, anytime someone got too close to her table for it to fade away, her fingers still tapping anxiously at book cover.

It was her; there was no one else it could be. How could it be her? The girl he talked to was nothing like the Aqua he was forced to work with.

“Terra,” Ven said, like he was very much doubting that Terra was going to move. “You have to go in there, you know that right?”

“I can’t,” he groaned, leaning his head back against the glass. “If she knows it’s me she’ll just be mad and she’ll never talk to me again.”

“So you’re going to leave a person, that I know you’ve been trying to hide how much you like, just waiting for you cause you found out you really do know them?”

“That’s the problem. I do know her and now I feel like I know two completely different people sharing the same body.”

Ven arched an eyebrow. “Do you though?”

“Do I what?”

“Do you know her? Maybe the girl online is really how she is and you never gave her the chance to be that way around you.”

Terra didn’t like that Ven was making sense. He was barely graduated from high school; it shouldn’t be possible for him to make assumptions like that. “It doesn’t change the fact that if she sees me, she’s going to make me leave. I can guarantee you I’m not the person she wants to see.”

“So what, you’re just going to stand her up? I’m sure she was looking forward to this as much as you were and she’ll leave here wondering why her friend didn’t want to meet her.”

Ven was laying on the guilt there but it was working. Terra didn’t always get along with Aqua but he didn’t hate her, and he really didn’t hate the girl he talked to on the internet; he wouldn’t want either of them to feel stood up.

“Okay,” Terra said, reaching a hand up to run through his hair. “Okay, I’ll go. But you’re getting an ‘I told you so’ if she kicks me out without letting me explain.”

Ven didn’t say anything else, he just gestured to the door. Terra did what he said and opened the door to the café, stepping inside. He tried not to look at her, knowing she was still watching everyone who walked in. He thought he felt Ven slip in behind but Terra lost track of his brother when he did make eye contact with Aqua.

She looked a little confused, like she was surprised he was there. Did she even know they went to the same school? Probably not; it wasn’t like they talked much, especially if it wasn’t work related. He walked over to the table she was sitting at, though he still had no idea what he was going to do let alone say.

“Hey,” he said, which was at least a start.

“Ah, hey,” Aqua said, still a confused look on her face. “I didn’t know you went to school here.”

That answered that question. “Hm, yeah, I do. What’re you doing here so late?”

Her face flushed slightly, she was embarrassed; it wasn’t a look he was used to on her. “Oh, I was just waiting for someone.”

“This late at night?”

“He had to work.”

“He, huh,” Terra said, pulling out the empty chair from the table. “On a date then?”

She flushed again and he did feel bad. He never saw Aqua be embarrassed in as long as he knew her. She always rolled with the punches, and stood her ground; which he did admire about her if he was being honest. “Who said it was your business?”

Terra shrugged, trying to ignore the weird feeling in the pit of his stomach as he sat down. It was a strange mix of still being in shock that Aqua was his mystery girl and the fluttering feeling fact that she wasn’t denying it could’ve been a date. It was so conflicting and made him sort of want to throw up. “It’s not, I was only asking.”

The door opened behind him and Aqua’s head immediately snapped over to look. She watched the guy walk in but looked away when he made no motion to walk over to her.

“Blind date?” he asked, propping his elbow up on the table. He knew he should tell her, it was cruel to pretend it wasn’t him, but at the same time he couldn’t actually get the words to form in his head let alone come out.

Aqua glanced back to him, like she was surprised he was still there. “I guess you could say that.”

“Friend of a friend?”

“No,” she said, looking down to the book still on the table. “Ah, I met him online.”

Terra whistled. “You keep looking for him, I’m guessing he’s late?”

She hesitated. “It’s an unusual hour, he could be running behind.”

“And didn’t even tell you? Not the best first impression.”

She arched an eyebrow. “He’s actually a very nice person. I think if he’s running late he has a good reason to be.”

Terra felt a slight bit of exhilaration that she was standing up for him, that she thought he was a good person who wouldn’t stand anyone up. Based only on their conversations she actually wanted to see him, she looked forward to it. It only made him feel sicker that she was so wrong without even knowing it. “Sure hope so, better than chickening out.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” That exasperated tone he knew well, but now he couldn’t stop seeing the softer look in her eyes, her tone in the way she excitedly told him about her days, about how much she loved Christmas.

It would’ve been easy to say, “Yeah, right here” or anything to tell her that he was the one she was waiting for but she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but near him. Despite expecting this was how it was going to be, it hurt. Not just because this was the girl he looked forward to getting messages from, the girl who got him through the long days, that made the holidays seem a little brighter this year, but because something in the way he behaved towards her made her feel like she had to be harsh with him.

Maybe if he had been kinder at work, maybe if he listened instead of writing her off as a control freak, if he understood how she operated, if he was more patient, he would’ve seen the girl behind the screen while he was at work. Maybe he would’ve seen her eyes light up when it was him who walked through the room and maybe he would’ve liked it, loved it even.

But it wasn’t what happened and now he couldn’t tell her, he couldn’t ever tell her. Terra wasn’t sure he could bear seeing that disappointment in her eyes. It would be easier for her to feel stood up than for him to crush her dreams that her mystery guy was none other than the person she hated.

“Yeah, I do,” Terra said, pushing himself up to his feet.

She was watching him but he couldn’t quite read her.

He leaned forward to tap the cover of the book. “Good choice,” he said. “I always liked it too.”

If she moved to say anything to him, he didn’t see it. He turned around to head back to the door, Ven scrambling off a stool to follow behind. He at least didn’t say anything as they walked in silence to Terra’s car. The disappointment only sunk in harder the farther he got away from the café. It wasn’t even that it was Aqua, that it was always Aqua - it was only in himself.

He didn’t even care to tell Ven ‘I told you so’ at any point.

Dear Bytheseaside,

Of course there is, how silly of me to assume otherwise. I appreciate your level of shamelessness in the least but it would take more than that to drive me off I think. Little brother, remember? I can take a lot of embarrassment. Speaking of, he’s alright. He just graduated high school and will be starting college in the spring much to my dreaded realization that time has gone by way too fast for me. Jokes aside he’s a great kid. Smart and generous, also sarcastic and snarky and sometimes I want to kill him but usually I love him. I think he very well could rival your love for sweets. You two would be peas in a pod honestly.

I mean, I can’t speak five languages in the least. Bits and pieces maybe, but not fluently. I have been around this country quite a bit but also places around the world. My dad traveled a lot before me and my brother so he took use when we were old enough. It’s always been fun, and yes, I have eaten things you’ve probably never dreamed of. It’s actually why my brother is starting college late, we had a trip planned for his graduation that interfered with some deadlines.

I can assure you I’m not a football player or a wrestler, I’m actually not really a sports person. I played in high school cause they made me but I never cared much for it. I’m not seven feet tall either, though maybe a little taller than average; maybe that freaks people out, I don’t know. I like to think I’m pretty mellow. You know, I’m not entirely sure you are capable of that. I’d be afraid to ever let you two in the same room, I may come back to find the place littered with all the sweets you two could find.

Wait, seriously? How did we never know we went to the same school? Let alone live in the same vicinity. You can say small world again. But, yeah, I mean, I’d totally be cool with that! I checked the work schedule and Thursday was already requested off so I can’t take it, but I can meet you after work if that’s okay? I’d actually really like it a lot. I’ll look for the bells and the book!

Aqua wasn’t sure if it was the cold weather and busy work schedule mixed with finals last week that knocked her out but all she knew was she tried to get up for work and there was just no way. She never called off but she didn’t have a choice. There was no way to open when she couldn’t even move from her bed; she felt like she got hit by a tuck the way her whole body ached, her nose wouldn’t stop running, she could barely eat anything in her apartment. It was probably for the best, all it would be was a day of sulking when she was supposed to be working. At least home she could pull the blankets over her head and pretend there wasn’t a terrible ache in her heart.

He never came.

She waited for hours, and then more time in hopes he’d walk in and recognize her sitting there. He never did. Aqua kept her phone out in case he messaged her that something came up but nothing, not a word. She didn’t know how to feel; if she should be heartbroken that the person she wanted to meet so badly didn’t feel the same. She worried that something happened to him, or nervous she did something to keep him away.

It only just resulted in her crying alone in her bed most the night, then to wake up with a pounding headache and feeling even more terrible. Aqua hadn’t known it was possible. She felt so stupid sitting there, and even more stupid going home alone, and just so sad. He was also so kind, so interested in what she had to say, so engaging she couldn’t understand what happened. He even sounded like he really wanted to meet her. Was it a lie to make her feel better and he never intended to come? That didn’t sound like him; he was always so open and honest. Still, she figured maybe you can’t always know someone just from the internet.

She reached her hand around the comforter covering her, trying to reach for the tissue box. Her nose was raw from blowing it so much but what else could she do but sit here and feel bad for herself? Tifa offered to come over and talk but Aqua just didn’t feel like talking to anyone. She cracked an eye open to look at her phone but no messages.

Clearly the one person she wanted to talk to didn’t want to talk to her.

She was maybe being melodramatic, she barely knew this person outside from long conversations reaching on for weeks but then again, wasn’t that enough to be able to know someone? Aqua groaned as she pulled the blankets over her head. She didn’t want to think anymore. She just wanted to go to sleep and pretend none of this happened. She should’ve never suggested going to meet him.

Except there was a part of her that still wanted to meet him.

Aqua slowly pulled the blanket down to her chest when she thought she heard something. She tried to listen to the quiet apartment, but there was nothing. No, wait…maybe there was something? Maybe she was delusional too? Someone was knocking on her door? Were they or was she imagining it?

Her phone buzzed and against her better judgment she nearly dove for it. The message waiting for her wasn’t anything like what she expected though.

Terra Hale (Work)

Aqua, your neighbors are starting to look at me strangely. Can you open the door?

She blinked at the screen, trying to make sure she was reading that right. Yeah, they had each other’s numbers because they had to but he never texted her anything that wasn’t work related and even that was few and far between.

Wait, are you here? Like at my door?

It wasn’t an unreasonable thing to ask, she didn’t even think Terra knew where she lived let alone ever been here before. Granted, he did use her name so it probably wasn’t a wrong number text.

Terra Hale (Work)

No, I’m asking you to open your door because I’m across town at someone else’s door. Yes, I’m standing here. It won’t take long, I know you’re sick.

Aqua knew she wasn’t feeling well but now she felt like she was in some weird alternative dimension. Was she dreaming? She had to be. Still she found herself kicking her legs over the side of her bed to stand up on shaky legs. Should she let him in? She probably looked like a terrible mess; red faced, red nosed, red eyed, not showered, bed head, the same PJ’s on from last night. Yep, he was probably going to tease her and never let her live this down.

She grabbed a thinner blanket off her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, hopefully covering some of disheveled state. Aqua didn’t like people seeing her less than at her best, let alone someone who didn’t even seem to like her at her best. She shuffled through her small living room and kitchen to the door. It was still chained shut, so she opened it only as far as the chain went.

Sure enough there was Terra standing there. He was still in his work uniform, typical thin jacket on. He had some sort of bag in his hands but his eyes were glancing down at her before looking up to the chain lock.

“I promise I’m not trying to rob you.”

Aqua hesitated. “Are you here because I called off and made you work?”

His face was almost unreadable but he didn’t look mad, or even annoyed. “No, I’m here because Leon said you called off and you’ve never done that in the time I’ve known you so I figured it was serious.” Terra held up the white plastic bag slightly. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

She wasn’t sure how much she believed him since he never seemed to care about her wellbeing before but Aqua also didn’t want to leave the poor guy just standing there when he hadn’t actually done anything wrong. She reached up to unhook the chain, pulling the door open.

He stepped in, closing the door behind him while Aqua quickly retreated to the kitchen which was closer than the living room.

“Do you, ah, want any…” She paused to reach her arm to her face, sneezing far louder than she wanted to. “Coffee? Tea?”

“No, thank you,” he said, though she was surprised to see a small smile on his lips. “You should go back to bed.”

“I’m fine,” she said, but her nose betrayed her, sounding gross and stuffy. Great, this was just wonderful.

Terra placed the bag on her counter, undoing the knot on the top. “I brought you some soup,” he said, pulling out a large Tupperware contained that looked full to the brim with some sort of chicken soup. “It just needs to be heated up. It’s my dad’s recipe, real good I promise. He used to make it for me and my brother when we were sick too.”

Aqua couldn’t help but eye him as he placed the container in the fridge for her. “Oh, wow, well thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was nothing,” he shrugged, reaching back for the bag. “I also brought some tea leaves, another special blend my dad always gave us. Do you have a teapot or anything?”

“Ah…” Aqua fiddled with the edge of her blanket. She didn’t know what she was expecting when she let Terra inside but this was absolutely not it. “Yeah, on the stove.”

He turned to grab it, filling it up with some water from the sink. While she wasn’t used to Terra being so…accommodating to her, she knew if she asked him to leave he would but she couldn’t find those words. She was more curious as to why he was being so accommodating; especially after how rude she was to him last night. Guilt swirled in the pit of her stomach, making her feel worse than she already did. She tried to tell herself he deserved it, that he was always abrasive at work so what else was she supposed to do? But at the same time, here he was pulling a mug off her drying rack to put near the tea he brought.

He turned the stove on, the clicks filling the otherwise quiet kitchen. “Go on back to bed, I’ll bring you some when it’s done and get out of your hair.”

She bit down on her lip, watching him as he popped open the container of tea leaves. She never really had tea without a tea bag before; she didn’t even know Terra liked tea. Come to think of it, she didn’t know very much about him in the first place. “I’m fine,” she said again, though she promptly sneezed again.

He looked up from pouring the tea leaves into the mug, a sort of knowing smile on his lips.

“I, um…” Aqua was really unsure what to even say. They never had a conversation without bickering before. “I’ll take your shift tomorrow.” She had to pause to sniffle even if it was incredibly embarrassing. “To make up for making you work today.”

“No need,” he said. “You keep your day off, you may need another day to rest and feel better.”

“No, no, it’s only fai-” Another sneeze. “Fair.”

“You’re clearly exhausted and overworked,” he said, sealing the cap back on the tea. “You need the rest and you need to go back to bed.”

“Really, I’m fi…” she paused when she saw him coming towards her. “Fine, I’m fine.”

He hummed like he really didn’t believe her which he clearly didn’t because the next thing he had picked her up over his shoulder.

“Terra!” she gasped, instinctively reaching down to grab him and keep her balance but she was more amazed at how effortlessly he carried her. She should be furious at him for touching her when she didn’t need to be but instead all she felt was a sort of warmth from his body, it was comforting in a weird way. That someone came out all the way just to take care of her.

It was sweet, even though she never thought to describe Terra that way.

He gently placed her down on her bed moving out of the way as she could only stare up at him in surprise. “I’m sorry if I intruded,” he said holding his hands up slightly. “But if I knew anything about you it was that you probably wouldn’t ask for help and were just sitting here suffering alone. I thought I’d help even a little bit.”

It was sweet, it was really sweet. She even smiled a little bit. “Well, thank you.” Aqua kicked her legs up onto her bed as he reached down to pull the comforter up over her. “I take it as a big brother you know how to take care of someone with a cold?”

He sat down on the edge of her bed, reaching over to briefly place his hand on her forehead. “And a fever, yes.”

She rolled her head on her pillow, looking up to meet his blue eyes. Were they always that blue? That compassionate? She didn’t know.

“Hey,” he said. “Did the person you were supposed to meet ever show up?”

Aqua felt her stomach sink at the mention even though it wasn’t an unusual thing to ask. “No,” she said. “He never did.”

Terra clicked his tongue in thought and she was sure something snarky was about to follow. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. You deserve better than being stood up like that. He’s an idiot for doing that to you.”

Aqua felt like she was staring but she couldn’t help it; of all the things she was expecting that was not it. Who was this and what had he done with Terra? Maybe it always was Terra but she was too stubborn to see the boy who lived behind her coworker. “Ah, well, thank you, that’s sweet of you.”

She paused for a second. On any normal circumstances she would never even consider opening her mouth to say what she was thinking to him, but he was here and he was being so nice, and she was admittedly not in her right mind. “Do you think…” she started, biting down at her lip to voice the one thought she couldn’t get out of her head. “Do you think he was there? And he took one look at me and left? Do you think it was me?”

“No,” Terra said quickly. “I don’t think that would ever be the case. You’re pretty, any guy would be lucky to look in and see you sitting there. Maybe something came up and he wasn’t able to tell you, or maybe he was too nervous to show his face. I don’t think it was you.”

Aqua stared at him; she didn’t expect him to say anything like that to her, not now not ever.

“I’m also, ah…” He glanced away, looking over her probably terribly messy room. “I’m sorry for intruding on you last night.”

“Oh, ah, it’s okay.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I was just nervous.”

He opened his mouth to say something but the teapot whistled from the other room. He got up with a slight smile and left her room. Aqua could only watch after him.

This was…a weird day. Seeing this small glimpse of him though…it was just astounding to her; maybe this was the real Terra. Sure he was laid back and didn’t hold the rules as high of a regard as she did, but maybe that was because he was understanding and wanted to give everyone a chance. He never punished Lea for being late, or Sora for mixing up an order, or Kairi for chatting too much but maybe it was because he was empathetic, understanding how and why they did the things they did.

Maybe there was a lot of him she didn’t even know.

“Okay,” he said, coming in with two cups in his hands. “Tea is in the mug though it’s very hot so be careful. Water is in the glass because with a fever, you should stay hydrated.”

The tea smelt so good, herbal spices mixing to remind her of an autumn day. She carefully took the mug from him, the steam and warmth making her feel better already.

He placed the water on her night stand, sticking his hands in his jacket pocket as he looked down at her. “Try and stay in bed and get some sleep. I left the tea leaves out in case you want more and soup is still in the fridge. If you need more or want anything different to eat or anything really, you have my number. I don’t live that far away.”

Aqua looked up at him. She was used to how he looked, how he dressed, his facial expressions, his mannerisms but this time it was like seeing a whole different person. “Thank you, Terra, I really mean it.”

“Any time,” he said, reaching a hand up to wave. “Get some rest.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “See you.”

“Bye.” He gave her a slight smile before turning to leave, the sound of her door closing shut was the last thing she heard of him.

What had seriously just happened? She could barely wrap her mind around it as she sipped on her tea. A part of her still wondered if she was dreaming but as she looked down at her quiet phone she did realize one thing.

At least for a little bit she stopped wondering why her friend hadn’t messaged her about last night.

Dear OftheShire,

I do hope all is well and nothing serious happened that caused you not to be able to make it. Maybe there was a misunderstanding somewhere along the way (maybe we really weren’t talking about the same schools?). Whatever the case, I hope I haven’t done anything that would’ve kept you away. I’d feel terrible if I made you feel pressured or scared in any way. All I really wanted to do was talk to the person whose company I’ve been enjoying so much!

I hope this doesn’t change anything between us because I would greatly miss being friends with you. If you thinking meeting in person is a bad idea, I’ll never bring it up again! Things can completely stay the same between us here.

I do hope all is well though. Just let me know so I don’t worry too much about you!

It was strange how you could go from barely thinking about someone to go to never getting them out of your mind. Maybe it was because Terra finally stopped distinguishing Aqua, the girl he worked with from Aqua, the girl he really liked online. They were both the same people, and he could see that now clearly. He never bothered to before, but seeing the soft look in her eyes as she asked him if he thought it was her that made her date run away, slipping Xion some money so she could go buy herself a sugary coffee, watching how she helped the seven year old girl pick out a present for her mom, how Aqua sang along with the radio when she thought no one was looking, the grin on her face when she teased Lea for flirting with customers again, it was all the same Aqua.

He couldn’t believe he never saw it before.

The few days she was gone from work to recover dragged on and on. He wanted to check up on her but he didn’t want to intrude, once was enough for his heart that nearly pounded out of his chest the entire time he was there. He hoped she’d text him but she never did. He knew he could respond to her waiting message but it didn’t feel right; not after what he did, not after what he knew. Terra felt terrible lying to her even at her apartment but he just didn’t know what he could say that would make any of this right.

He tried to when she did come back to work but all that came out was asking her if she needed more tea and that the magazines looked like a tornado went through them. Terra never admitted to be very smooth.

No, instead he found himself just sort of lingering around the store, trying to keep to himself or help her and the other kids when they needed it. Thankfully with only one week till Christmas left they were swamped at all times and he could keep busy enough to take his mind off the beautiful girl he worked with, the one who made him so happy without even knowing she did.

How had he been so blind?

“Oh, yes, ma’am, its right over here,” Aqua said from around the corner.

Terra leaned around the end of the bookshelf he was doing a quick stock of to see her walking with another woman to one of the bookshelves that lined the walls.

“It’s a beautiful book,” Aqua continued. “Full of beautiful pictures and descriptions, great for any fan.” She reached up to the top shelf to grab some sort of movie art book but the stock was low and she was a little too short to reach it on her own. “Popular as well,” she chuckled as she tried to strain a little harder to grab it with no luck.

Terra left the books he had in his hands on the shelf, moving over to where Aqua was still struggling. He reached over her head to grab the book with no effort. “Here you go,” he said, passing it to Aqua.

She had turned around to look at him, a little too close, he could feel the warmth of her body against his. There was this look in her eyes, one he couldn’t quite read but it melted into that customer service smile. “Thank you,” she said, turning again to hand the book to the customer. “We have to keep some tall employees here just for that.”

The woman smiled her thanks and went to leave, vanishing in the rest of the crowd of customers. Terra knew he should get back to his own work, but he was frozen when Aqua exhaled, leaning back against the bookshelf as she looked back up at him. “I am exhausted.”

“I know the feeling,” he said, reaching a hand up behind the back of his head.

“You need a break?” she asked a sort of concern wrinkling her forehead. “I can hold the fort down.”

“Oh, no, I’ll be fine but feel free to take it if you need it. I can handle it just fine.”

While before it may’ve ended up in more bickering, now she merely laughed. “I appreciate it, Terra, but I’ll be okay too. I guess we’re better as a team out here anyways.”

He blinked at her, not quite getting what she meant, but she glanced upwards at the top shelf. “Ah, yeah, need those tall arms don’t you?”

“I used to think I was tall for a girl, and then I met you.”

“Ah, what can I say? Born to be a sports person.”

“Were you?”

“No,” he laughed. “I never cared much for playing or watching them.”

She looked at him with that unreadable look again. It wasn’t bad he didn’t think, he just wasn’t sure what was going through her head. “Well, I suppose you do like books better.”

“That I do, obviously.” He found his voice lacking the sarcasm he used to talk to her with, mainly because he really did enjoy talking to her. He thought maybe she felt the same because she was much less abrasive with him ever since he brought her the soup. Maybe it hadn’t been such a bad idea.

She laughed lightly, opening her mouth to say something else but a voice crackled in both their ears, judging by the way Aqua cringed at the same time he did.

“Guys,” Sora whined a little too loudly over the headset. “This customer is angry over a sale. Can one of you come help me?”

Terra reached up to turn his mic on to say he got it but he felt Aqua’s soft touch on his arm.

“I got it, Sora,” she said as she pressed her mic on. “I’ll be right there.”

“Oh, thank Jesus. I think they want to murder me.”

“I would’ve gone,” Terra said. “I know you said you were tired.”

“It’s fine,” she said with the smile he had gotten used to the past few days. “I know you’re not a big confrontation person and I love putting people in their place, especially when they mess with my kids.” She winked at him before going to head to the register.

Terra watched her go and almost pitied the person who yelled at Sora. Almost. Terra moved back to where he was stocking, hoping it would keep distracting him till the store closed and he could get some peace and quiet to clean the store in.

“What happened with you?”

He looked up to see Riku standing at the next shelving unit over. He was straightening but he was also eyeing Terra a little curiously. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You and Aqua,” Riku said, gesturing vaguely in the direction Aqua was last in.

Terra arched an eyebrow. “Are you spying on me, kiddo?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Riku said, leaning over to fix the next shelf down. “More like it’s so obvious everyone’s been talking about it.”

Terra froze. “Talking about what?”

“That you guys actually get along now. Some have, ah, interesting theories.”

“People like Lea and Kairi, I’ll guess?”

Riku snorted and that was enough of an answer. “It’s just you guys used to fight-flirt a lot, like we all couldn’t tell if you hated each other or liked each other but now you guys…I don’t know, seem happy?”

Terra decided he’d ignore the fact the employees apparently talked about his and Aqua’s relationship dynamics (and referred to it as flirting none the less). “Huh, I mean nothing really changed.”

“I don’t think that’s true. Something changed somewhere.” Riku crouched down but looked up towards Terra. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good thing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of you smile so much especially around this time of the year when you’re stuck at work. Whatever it is, I’m glad to see you happy.”

Terra knew something changed in himself, and maybe because of his attitude change, it made Aqua feel better about him but he didn’t think it was that apparent to everyone else. “Well, thanks I guess but nothing’s really changed. I guess we just learned how to work with each other.”

Riku made some sort of noise of acknowledgement but otherwise went back to straightening the books. Terra tried to do the same but he couldn’t focus on what went where. He couldn’t see or hear Aqua but he was so aware of her presence. There was no going back for him now, not when he knew it was her. He knew why she made him happy but the disappointment she’d feel knowing he was the person she was waiting to hear back from was enough to make him look back to his job.

He knew he had to tell her, lying to her only made him feel worse every day. It would both ruin the relationship they had, and the one that was only just growing but he had to make it right to her. She deserved that and so much more.

Dear Bytheseaside,

I’m not sure I have words to apologize to you. I could sit here and make excuses all day long but the truth is I have none. I’m the one who chickened out and in the end couldn’t face you. There was nothing you did wrong; I can assure you of that. I’m not quite as outgoing as I may come across and the thought of facing you made me turn away. Then in turn, the thought of facing you in shame of what I’ve done got me delaying in telling you what happened.

I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t trust me to meet again but I still would like to make it up to you. The large Christmas tree in the center of West Town Mall, it’s beautiful you know? I know how much you love Christmas (and hate the cold so this is inside). If you have time maybe the day before Christmas Eve, I’ll wait for you there. I know you typically work nights so after closing. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to show up, but this time I promise I’ll be there. I can’t promise I’ll wear bells in my hair, but I think you’ll know me when you see me.

Aqua couldn’t get the nervous buzz out of the pit of her stomach, which meant it was probably bad to be walking back into the store with more coffee for herself, but she couldn’t help it. She balanced the tray and a couple bags of food past some customers who were digging through the bargain bin, more running to grab last minute presents all around her. Thankfully she made it to the backroom without anyone running into her and spilling either coffee cup.

Terra was already sitting at the table, fiddling with his phone. She smiled as the door swung behind her; at least the nice thing about working the day before Christmas Eve was the boss was here all day and she could take her break at the same time as him tonight.

“Ta-da,” she said, placing the tray down on the table. “Surprise caffeine.”

“Bless you,” he said, leaving his phone on the table. “But you seriously didn’t have to get me anything, Aqua.”

“It was nothing.” She waved him off before reaching for one so she could read the markings. “I figured you were as dead on your feet as I was.”

“You’re right there.”

“Just today and tomorrow,” she said, handing him the one marked with nothing but coffee in it. “Then a day off.”

“Yeah, until we have to come back for all the after-Christmas sales.” He took the coffee from her, but his fingers were warmer than she expected, making her jump just a little when they brushed against her hand.

“Optimism, Terra, c’mon now.” Aqua sat down in the chair across from him, thankful to not be on her feet even for a little bit. She brought the warm coffee up to her lips, hoping it would help her lingering exhaustion.

He snorted but he didn’t say anything else as he sipped carefully at his own drink.

“Oh, here, this too.” Aqua grabbed one of the food bags to peek into it before sliding it over to him.

He choked slightly, probably out of surprise. “You’re too much. You know you don’t have to make sure I eat, right?”

She hummed, grabbing her own bag before leaning back again. “I don’t know, you look like someone who would forget to eat.”

It was the strangest thing. Where she once didn’t even like having to share the same space as him, she found herself standing at the café in the mall wondering what Terra would like off the menu. She admittedly didn’t know and had to guess completely, but so far he was drinking the black coffee with no complaints as he peeked into the bag curiously.

“It was the least sweet thing I could find,” she explained, pulling out her own pastry which she made sure was the polar opposite.

It was like the thought surprised him as he looked back up to her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she chuckled, pulling off a piece of her pastry to pop in her mouth. “It’s the holidays, there’s been cookies and pies and cakes galore back here and you’ve never touched any of them. I figured you didn’t really like sweets too much.”

“Ah, well, you’re right,” he said, placing the pastry on top of the bag, a sort of smile on his lips. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“Of course, we have to survive all this madness together.”

He hummed in response, leaning back in his chair as he carefully ate the pastry she brought him.

Aqua wasn’t quite sure how it happened. She didn’t know how she went from trying to ignore him as best she could at work to actually looking to see if his name was on the schedule with her. Almost just as surprising was the disappointment she felt when they were scheduled separate. Was he always this sweet and kind and she just never saw it? Did she ever give him the chance to understand he just operated on a different level than she did?

She didn’t know. All she knew was she regretted the way she treated him before. Ever since he brought her food when she was sick, she couldn’t get him out of her head. Even going so far as to having the desire to text him for no reason other than she wished she could see him more than just at work when they were so busy and never really got a chance to say much. She did stop trying to always take control of things, knowing that no matter what he was doing he’d do it to the best of his abilities, even if it was a much quieter way than she’d do it. She actually found his presence with her more comforting than anything, knowing he’d be there if she needed it. Aqua didn’t know why, because she didn’t deserve it in the least but it was a nice thing.

Also a very conflicting thing as she was supposed to meet the person she had been talking to for months again tonight.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

Aqua blinked as she remembered she was still sitting at the table staring down at her food. His was already gone, just crumbs remaining as he went back to his drink. “Ah, nothing important,” she said, reaching to pick at her pastry.

Terra tipped his cup to his lips, gesturing with his hand for her to continue. Did she mention how easy it was to talk to him, too? For all the bickering they used to do, she found conversation with him so easily. He was quiet but always attentive, like nothing she said ever bored him. Why did they used to fight so much? Aqua couldn’t even begin to remember.

“I’m well, I’m supposed to meet that guy again tonight.” The nerves tightened in her stomach just at the thought, making her otherwise delicious food seem unappealing.

Terra arched his eyebrows. “Is that a bad thing?”

“I don’t know,” she groaned, her head falling backwards some.

“Did he at least apologize to you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he didn’t really tell me what happened other than it was on him, and that he wanted to try for a second chance.”

“Do you think he deserves it?”

“Everyone deserves a second chance,” Aqua said, maybe a little too quickly judging by the way her heart leapt up into her throat with Terra’s eyes on her. “I just…I don’t know.”

Terra leaned forward, placing his cup on the table. “In the end it’s up to you. You seemed really upset when he stood you up last time. You have every right not to want to put yourself through that again.”

She hesitated. “Do you think I should go?”

“It’s not my choice to make,” he laughed lightly. “It’s up to you and how you feel. If you still feel like you want to meet this person then go, if you don’t feel like you can trust them after what happened then don’t. Don’t ever feel forced to do something just because you think it’s what other people want.”

Did she still want to? She knew there was a part of her that did, who wanted to meet the person she had so many wonderful conversations with, who made her feel light and warm, happy even when she otherwise might not’ve felt those things. Yet, there was another part of her who was aware there was a person sitting in this room who also had the ability to make her feel that way, who took care of her when he absolutely didn’t have to, who kept the kids at the store out of trouble because he knew they meant well, who did anything without a complaint.

“You’re right,” she said, bringing her coffee back up to her lips. Their break would be over in any second, and she’d have to go back to work and try to not be distracted…by a lot of things.

Terra seemed accepting enough with her answer as he leaned back in his chair. Granted that didn’t last too long as the door swung open.

Xion had her head popped in. “Boss said break’s up, sorry, guys.”

“It’s fine, be right there,” Aqua said, moving to shove the rest of her pastry in her mouth (that absolutely got a chuckle from Terra). She grabbed her coffee to take with her as she stood; she was hiding it behind the counter, they could pry it from her cold, dead hands.

“Hey, Aqua?”

She paused, turning back to Terra who was standing but not really making any other move to leave. “Yeah, what’s up?”

He looked a little unsure, and for a moment she thought he was going to tell her not to go (or hoped? She wasn’t quite sure). “I’m sorry, about how I’ve treated you in the past. It was, ah, really wrong of me.”

Despite the fact she was about to head back to the floor on one of the busiest nights of the year, she couldn’t hold back her smile at his sweet sentiment. “You don’t have to apologize, Terra. I wasn’t always very kind either, so I’m sorry about that.” She paused for a moment, well aware Xion was probably about to stick her head back in to get them moving. “I’m glad it’s not like that anymore though.”

“Me too.”

Aqua barely had time to register the sort of sweet smile on his lips as she pulled open the door, her head instantly filled with Christmas music and the noise that came with a packed store. She did think about how well his smile fit his face, how sincere he was in a simple apology as she bustled around trying to assist where she could and keep the customers happy. It really didn’t help her choice she had to make, it only made it even harder.

In the end, once the store was cleaned and closed up, she bid farewell to her coworkers and walked down the nearby stairs to the first floor of the mall. She could’ve gone to her car and left, but at the same time she couldn’t abide having him feel the same way she did just the week before. Aqua wasn’t sure what she’d say or what she’d do, if she even felt the same way she did before but in the very least he was her friend and he deserved to be treated with respect.

The tree was so big it reached the second floor of the mall, all filled with garland, ornaments, lights, and bows. It really was beautiful. Usually it was filled with lines of kids coming to see Santa but now it was empty, the lights twinkling and soft music playing over the radio. No one else was there, and she tried not to feel the familiar sink of disappointment.

Aqua moved to walk around the tree, to see if anyone else was waiting around the other side. No one, not even lingering mall shoppers, everyone was gone already. She sighed, reaching to her pocket for her phone to see how long she should wait before leaving this endeavor too. She stopped short when she heard footsteps in her direction.

Her heart was in her throat when she looked up but it really didn’t clear anything up. “Terra?” she asked, as he continued to walk up to her. “Did you forget something?”

He had his hands in his jacket pockets, his shoulders hunched slightly. He had keys so she wasn’t sure why he’d need her if he forgot something in the store but still he didn’t stop till he was standing in front of her. The look on his face was a little unreadable, but he looked more nervous than anything.

It was that moment Aqua realized while she told Terra she was supposed to meet her friend tonight, she never actually said where.

“I know I said you’d know me when you saw me,” he said, reaching a hand up to the back of his neck. “But I realized you never did before, so I suppose I probably should’ve brought bells or something.”

Aqua felt her purse fall off her shoulder but she made no move to get it, she could only bring her fingers up to her mouth as she stared at him. It made sense; it made way too much sense for her to have never seen it before. Everything she knew about her friend she knew in Terra too, right down to how gentle and caring she always thought him to be.

“I’m sorry for lying to you,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that night either. I just…didn’t want you to feel disappointed that in the end it was me.”

“Terra,” she choked. The emotions swirling through her made tears pricked her eyes in a wave of relief that she didn’t even know she was looking for till he was standing there; that the person she looked forward to seeing at work was the same person she waited for each message from. “I couldn’t…I wanted it to be you.”

He didn’t seem to be expecting that, nor did she expect to put her hands on his face, bringing herself up to press her lips to his. Terra recovered from his surprise enough to reach a hand to her face, the other to her back, pulling her in.

She heard the Christmas music playing lightly, the smell of pine and cinnamon, the lights behind her eyes but mostly she felt the familiar warmth he brought her, his gentle hands against her as he kissed her back. For the first time since she met him, both at work and through their messages, everything just felt simply right.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #terra #aqua #kingdom hearts fanfic #my fics:kh #tobewithyou #modernaukh #ITS A CHRISTMAS FIC I PROMISE LOL

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Dance

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Rating: K

Setting: Post Kingdom Hearts 3

Notes: Okay so I had the Ed Sheeran song "Perfect" in my head the whole time I wrote this. My brother and sister-in-law danced to that song as their first dance and kay my heart melted SO here's some super sap lmao And I thought of Terra and Aqua the first time I heard it then too so I guess I'm the super sap hahaha

AO3

Destiny Island, Ven loved Destiny Island. The first time he ever stepped foot on the sandy beaches he was ready to toss off his clothes and dive right into the water; which he didn’t because he didn’t bring a swimsuit but he would’ve.

He did the very next time he went back to visit in the least.

It was warm and sunny and it always smelled like fresh fruit and sunshine. He loved the way the sand felt between his toes, how clear the water was that he could see all the fish swimming around, he loved jumping off the old bridges to catch the frisbee Axel intentionally threw too far, Ven loved it all. He’d move here if Terra and Aqua would let him. The lake back home was okay, but it couldn’t hold a candle to the beach.

“It’s a vacation spot,” Aqua would say with that amused look in her eyes as she’d rub some dirt off his cheek. “Even the people who live here don’t live on the island.”

Yeah, well, he’d make a house, like in the trees or something. Whatever, it was nice enough to just visit regardless. The waves tickled his feet as he laid flat on his back, the moon shining high above him, stars reflecting over the dark water. He sort of got dressed before collapsing on the semi wet sand to watch the stars rise, but he didn’t care too much if he got wet, the water was still so warm.

The fire was crackling somewhere behind him, music playing softly over the radio that Kairi brought with her today. He arched his head back to look at who was still around the campfire. It wasn’t too surprising that Axel was passed out off to the side, some jacket tucked under his head; he was probably snoring but the music was playing loud enough that it drowned him out. Roxas was fiddling on his phone with his back leaning up against Axel’s stomach, that would probably be a pillow before too long. Isa was still there too, his eyes watching the fire while he kicked Axel to get him to shut up. Xion was kneeling behind Isa, her mouth moving as she chatted about something, fingers moving in his hair where she was probably braiding it.

Ven had to arch his back into a weird position to see the rest of the fire pit but there was Kairi and Naminé sitting together on a log, exchanging pictures on their phones as well as flipping through her sketchbook. Sora and Riku where nowhere to be found; probably hunting through the caves together considering the only other people where Terra and Aqua, sitting on a shorter log off to the side. He had his legs kicked out closer to the fire and she was curled into facing him, listing attentively to what he was saying. They were close enough that their legs were touching but far enough that nothing else was.

Figures, Ven snorted as he let himself flop back down on the sand. A year. A year went by since that nightmare, and for the most part everyone was well adjusted and happy in their new roles and new lives. Except Ven’s stupid best friends.

Okay, almost a lie. They were well adjusted and happy, just not in the way Ven thought they should be. It was silly really, you love someone you tell them. Done deal. Oh, no, those two did just about everything you could possibly do to imply it but until one of them actually said it Ven was pretty sure they’d never know. Even when Terra literally would carry Aqua to bed when she stayed up late in library and fell asleep. Even when Aqua could predict a shifting mood in Terra so she could be there with a warm hand on his face to remind him he was alive. Even when he intentionally went to bed last every single night so he could shut off the lanterns while Aqua was tucked safe in bed, usually his if you wanted a double whammy. Even when neither of them looked at anyone the way they looked at each other.

Ven didn’t even really knew what it was like to be in love, how it felt, what it entailed and even he knew. Alright, it was a rough time back, hard adjustments even he felt that but things were good now, things were normal. The Land of Departure was going to be a school again, a safe haven for keybearers. Peace was returned, this was the prime time for love and all that crap. Ven couldn’t fathom why they still pretended like everything was the same, why they couldn’t say simple words that expressed how they felt.

In fact the more he thought about it the more frustrated he got. Even laying on the beach with the relaxing waves and soothing breeze he wanted to hit them both upside the head. If anyone in this world deserved to be happy it was them two and for some reason they refused to see that. Well, you know what, maybe Ven would make them see it.

He didn’t even know he had jumped to his feet until he heard Terra call his name.

“Everything alright, kiddo?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ven said, jogging to head back over to the fire. “Saw a jellyfish or something.”

“Its dark out, how did you see a jellyfish,” Roxas asked though judging by how he didn’t look up from his phone it was probably more along the lines of “you absolutely didn’t see a jellyfish”.

“The moonlight,” Ven said, waving his hand generally towards the sky. “Stars, you know. I saw one, okay.”

Xion giggled from her spot behind Isa.

Roxas did look up that time. “Are there even any jellyfish around this island? I’ve never seen one.”

“Don’t antagonize, Roxas,” Isa said but he cracked a small smile when Kairi looked up to mouth “no” while trying not to laugh.

“Okay, okay,” Ven snorted. He should’ve known better they’d call his bluff, they always did. Some friends. He went to go sit by Aqua, trying to form some plan to get them to do something but it turned out he didn’t need to; her feet were tapping in the sand the to the beat of the music, head bobbing absent mindedly.

Oh, oh. Aqua loved music and she loved dancing. Kairi brought along the radio just because she thought it would be nice to have something to sing or dance along to. So far everyone had just listened along but he bet he could get some dancing going which could work out in his favor.

“Hey, Aqua,” he said, holding his hands out to her. “Dance with me.”

“On the beach?” she asked though she was already standing up to meet him. “I’m not sure how well my form will be on uneven ground.”

“Please, you’re good at everything.”

Aqua gave him a swat to his arm but she was already placing one hand on his shoulder and taking Ven’s in her hand. He placed his other on her waist which might’ve been weird because she was like his sister but he did it a million times before. Even when Ven started to move in the first dance steps that came to his memory, which she was right it was hard to keep a pattern when your feet kept slipping in the sand. Aqua looked more shocked than anything.

“What?” he asked. “Surprised I remembered?”

“No.” Her face melted into a smile. “You’ve just gotten so tall. You used to be a lot smaller when we did this.”

He felt his ears get hot at the sudden attention on himself; he knew Aqua was sentimental but that wasn’t quite what Ven was going for tonight. He spun her around pretty sloppily because of the sand but it made her laugh well enough before he pulled her back to him.

Terra was still sitting, watching them with an amused grin.

“Jealous I’m still a better dancer than you?” Ven said, sticking out his tongue as he moved to dance Aqua in a small circle.

“If you call that better dancing you can have it,” Terra snorted. He didn’t seem to mind one bit to not be the one dancing. Granted Ven also knew it’s not like Terra had any reason to be jealous of Ven or anyone here.

“He’s right, VenVen,” Roxas said.

There was a teasing glint in Isa’s eyes that used to be hard to see but he was getting better at it. “You can’t do better, I wouldn’t talk. Unless you’d like to prove me wrong.”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Don’t talk the talk then,” Xion said, fingers grabbing some more of Isa’s thick hair.

That did give Ven an idea though. Looking over Aqua’s shoulder he managed to catch Naminé’s eyes. She was already watching them as Kairi was looking questionably at her phone; probably trying to figure out where the boys went off to.

Ven gestured his head to Terra, but Naminé only blinked in response. Ven moved Aqua around in a circle again, trying to mouth to Naminé while frantically nodding towards Terra. Her eyes blinked in recognition this time, her mouth forming a little “o”.

At one point she might’ve been too shy but now she easily stood up, walking over to where Terra was still sitting. “Terra?” she asked in that soft voice of hers. “Would you maybe dance with me?”

Ven was already celebrating his victory; like Terra would ever say no to that.

Sure enough he didn’t. He was already pushing himself up to his feet. “Of course, I’d be my pleasure.”

Ven tried to watch them more to make sure he could give Naminé more instructions but Aqua’s face cut back into his view, a grin on her lips as she spun him around this time. She was far better at it than he was, pulling him out and right back in with so much ease even the slippery sand didn’t make him feel like he was going to fall.

Aqua pulled him in closer that time, leaning so her face was near his ear. “What are you up to?”

“Me? Aqua, honestly, how could you ever think that?”

She laughed and it made Ven feel happier even than he was in that moment. He wanted her to always be happy, like this, carefree dancing on the beach in the middle of the night. There was really only one person who could do that for her every day, and it wasn’t himself.

Ven leaned back around when Aqua straightened up some. Naminé looked even smaller when she was standing in front of Terra. He still led her with surprisingly good form even though Terra hated dance class way back when. Naminé was giggling but Ven knew she was watching him out of the corner of her eyes. He couldn’t really tell her what he wanted to do so he had to hope she was intuitive enough to pick up on it; he was almost positive she was, even more so than most.

He mouthed, “now” and hoped she got the message. Ven quickly spun Aqua around but let her go, ducking under her arms to move out of the way. Naminé had done the same to Terra, spinning off to where Ven was standing and leaving Aqua and Terra facing each other, their arms still slightly extended where their partners once where.

“Your turn,” Ven said, Naminé reaching up to cover her laugh behind her hand.

Aqua pursed her lips, her cheeks puffing out slightly from the trick Ven pulled over them.

He shrugged in response. “Sorry, you gotta, thems the rules.”

“What rules?” Roxas snorted.

“The dance rules,” Kairi nodded even though there were absolutely no rules for this.

“Suppose you should get on with it then,” Isa said, and Ven didn’t miss the small wink Isa gave Xion, making her giggle too.

“Okay,” Aqua sighed, though she was grinning she wasn’t upset. “I suppose it’s the rules.”

Terra rolled his eyes, but was already reaching out for Aqua’s waist, taking one of her hands in his. “I don’t remember that rule.”

“You did it anyways,” Ven snickered, moving to sit on the now empty log. Naminé followed taking a seat between him and Kairi.

Terra ignored Ven at that point; in fact he was pretty sure Terra ignored everyone at that point. It didn’t really matter because the sight in front of Ven was exactly what he wanted.

Terra and Aqua fit together much better than Ven did with Aqua. Terra was still taller than her but she was the right height to match his movements easily. She looked like she was trying not to laugh, probably because they were sliding in the sand as they tried to mimic a ballroom dance. He did too, big grin on his lips; one Ven thought at one point he might never see again even after they came back home.

They were dance partners before Ven ever came along, they were partners in pretty much everything before and after Ven. He never took it personally; he knew they shared something different with each other then they shared with him. It just took him a while to understand the different ways you could love someone. It showed the most in situations like these where their partnership and their bond really shined. They were perfectly at ease following the simple steps in each other’s arms. Even when Aqua slide a little too far in the sand, nearly loosing her balance with a laugh Terra grabbed onto her waist holding her back up.

For a moment, Ven was pretty sure they forgot they were on a beach surrounded by their friends.

Aqua reached her arms up around Terra’s neck, the distance between them closing just a little more, their feet reduced more to small steps and sways and less like actual dancing.

Roxas breathed in like he was going to say something but a hand clasped down on his mouth before he could. Axel had his eyes open; maybe he was never really asleep to begin with. Roxas glared over but it was harmless.

Isa brought his finger to his lips. “Let them be.”

Ven would’ve rolled his eyes at the fact everyone knew but clearly the two in question but when he looked back to them, it wasn’t…It wasn’t like that.

Aqua had leaned her head down on Terra’s shoulder, her eyes shut with a sort of easy smile on her face. They had drifted a little bit away from the fire, partly hidden by the shadows from the palm trees nearby. Terra’s hands were pressed to her lower back keeping her close. He had his head tilted towards her as he said something that Ven supposed wasn’t for anyone else’s ears.

They knew. They absolutely knew. They knew how important they were to one another, they knew the comfort, they knew the peace, and they probably knew the love. It was never clearer than in that moment that they were each other’s worlds, all wrapped up in light sweaters from the chill of the beach at night, barefoot in the sand under a bright moon. They may not have done anything about it, that Ven knew of, but it wasn’t that they were oblivious or ignoring it. They embraced it even if they weren’t ready to say it.

Terra leaned her head against hers and her smile got wider, though her eyes never opened. They really were the only people they saw here right now.

Ven felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He looked over to Naminé; she was watching at the sky.

“They’ll be just fine.”

Where once he would’ve question that, because could they take any longer, they had already lost so much time why lose more? This time he felt a little more at peace. He glanced back over to them still dancing slowly together before watching the sparkling stars. The very ones he wished upon so many times both with his friends and alone. It was hard not close his eyes fondly at the memories and at the long life he had in front of him to spend it how he pleased; with the people he loved, his friends and his family.

He blinked his eyes open when he heard footsteps on the sand. Kairi stood up to wave when Riku was in view, Sora sitting up on Riku’s shoulders and waving so frantically it nearly knocked Riku over. Roxas had leaned over to show Axel something on the phone, something they were both snickering over. Xion was holding up some of the braids to Isa to make sure he liked the style she was testing on him; he always liked it. Terra and Aqua were still dancing, feet barely moving in the sand as the water lapped up from the beach.

Ven smiled, a sigh falling from his lips. Yeah, those two, they’d be just fine.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts fanfic #terraqua week #kingdom hearts aqua #kingdom hearts terra #canonversekh #my fics:kh #can you tell I missed writing canon lmao

35 notes · View notes

lyssala · 5 years

Text

Dreams

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Rating: K

Setting: A bit Post Kingdom Hearts 3

Notes: idk what this one is, I just wanted to write a fic about them camping and this is what I came up with lmao Its sappy but I also just loved the idea of them going back to things they used to do as kids.

AO3

The weather was chilly this early in the morning, the breeze feeling nice as Terra had already been leading the hike for about an hour. It was part of the reason he chose to do this now; while the mornings and nights were cool, but the midday was still warm enough to enjoy the outdoor weather. Soon it would be all cold, with snow coating the ground and the woods would be to dangerous to venture.

Terra adjusted the bag on his shoulders as he glanced behind him down the path. Aqua was a few steps behind, carrying her own backpack and bag on her shoulder. She was looking out off to the side, watching some deer run off in the distance. It would’ve been a peaceful, quiet hike, just the sounds of nature all around them if not for Ven’s constant stream of vocal thoughts as they walked.

“…then there also was the time we got completely lost out here like so lost I was pretty sure we would never find our way back to the castle again. Even the sun had gone down and we were still walking in circles.”

“I’d do yourself a favor and not recall who’s fault it was we were lost in the first place,” Terra said as he stepped around a large rock in the pathway. Really, he didn’t mind Ven being chatty; nature was nice but it was better to hear the voices of the people who were there with him.

“Are you implying it was my fault, Terra?” Aqua’s voice was clear, though not without a hint of a amusement; probably because she remembered the event as clearly as Ven did.

“I’m going to do myself a favor and not answer that either.”

“I knew where we were.”

“Yeah, of course you did, I never said otherwise.” He got a punch in the arm for that one but it lacked any real force. It was so long ago that any hard feelings about teasing over that particular event were gone. He looked over to see Aqua shaking her head at him but it was easy to know she wasn’t mad. Terra turned farther around to see Ven jogging around the rock; even farther back was light blonde hair bobbing along. “You keeping up okay, Naminé?”

She nodded with a big smile though Terra could see the sweat on her forehead, the way her feet were dragging slightly against the dirt. Terra knew it well; not only in himself once upon a time but Aqua, and Ven when he was younger too. It was hard to hike all day if you weren’t used to it.

“Everyone ready for a break? We’re about…” Terra looked off into the distance, trying to find the trail markers him and Eraqus placed ages ago. “Halfway there maybe.”

“I can keep going,” Ven said, hoping off a log to jump ahead.

Terra reached an arm out, wrapping it around Ven’s shoulders to pull him back. “I’m glad you can, but not everyone has never ending energy.”

He opened his mouth to argue the fact but he must’ve noticed Aqua paused for Naminé. “Why do we have to stop for you, old man?”

Terra placed his hands on Ven’s shoulders, giving a squeeze to let him know Terra noticed the redirect; Naminé would never insist they stop for her if she knew that’s the reason why. “You’ll understand when you’re my age.”

“Your age,” Aqua snorted, pulling out a canteen from her backpack. “You act like you aren’t only two years older than me.”

“Does that mean you’re old too?” Ven asked.

She clicked her tongue. “Not unless you want to wake up with your bed mat in the middle of the lake.”

“I was just kidding.” Ven scurried out of Terra’s grasp, walking around to where Naminé was coming to a stop. “Isn’t it beautiful out here?”

“Lovely,” she agreed, though her voice sounded a little winded.

Aqua held out her water bottle for Terra to take, which he did. It was cool out but that didn’t mean it was easy to hike without any sort of water.

“Bet you can draw lots of pretty things spending the weekend in the woods,” Ven said.

“I hope so,” Naminé said with a nod. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank us.” Aqua waved a hand dismissively. “It’s our pleasure to show someone else our favorite spots out here. Someone who will appreciate them.”

Terra tried not to choke on the water as he laughed. It was true, Ven invited his friends for the trip and while some were genuinely busy some, like Axel, said there was no way he was sleeping if there wasn’t a full sized bed. Naminé was the only one who wanted and was able to come with them.

“It’s very special to you isn’t it?” she asked.

That brought a smile to Aqua’s face, reminiscent and soft in a way that only she could be. “It brings back many good memories, yes.”

Ven was holding his canteen over his head, mouth open but nothing was coming out; something he noted with a groan.

“Wanna see if you can find a water source?” Terra asked looking away from Aqua to see Ven’s pouting face.

“This is a test, I know it is.”

Terra merely shrugged. In his mind he could see Eraqus saying the same words, Terra reacting similarly to Ven. “Doesn’t matter if you need to find water.”

His eyes flickered to Aqua, making Terra look in just enough time to see her pointing off to the side of the woods.

“Got it!” Ven said, hurrying off in the direction before Terra could say anything. “Wanna come with me, Naminé?”

“Okay,” she nodded. “I’d like to see the water.” She looked like she was about to follow but Ven grabbed her wrist first, tugging her off in the direction Aqua gave him and nearly knocking Naminé off her feet.

“If I remember, there’s a nice little creek nearby,” he said, careful to make sure she didn’t actually fall as he led her.

“It’s a pond, Ven,” Terra said.

“Yeah, there’s a pond nearby.”

Aqua was trying to hide her laughter behind her hand as Ven and Naminé disappeared behind the trees. His voice was still present for a little while longer, explaining all the things he thought where near the pond even though he was thinking of a different spot in the woods.

Terra looked over to Aqua who was still watching the direction that Ven and Naminé went. “Cheater.”

Aqua clicked her tongue as she sat down on a nearby log, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Like you never benefited from me pointing out the answers behind Master’s back.”

“Oh, so we’re teaching Ven our bad habits now,” Terra snorted, passing her the canteen back so he could sit down next to her.

She was laughing as she looked over to him. “When have we not?”

“I can’t argue that.” It was hard not to smile when her eyes were so bright in the morning light, her cheeks red from the hike and from her laughter.

Ven’s voice had completely disappeared from earshot, something that once would’ve worried Terra. He knew that Ven was plenty capable of getting water and finding his way back. Terra leaned back slightly, looking past the tree line to the sky. As far as he could tell the weekend would be good weather for their camping trip; the first one in a long time when him and Aqua used to go often with Eraqus. It seemed both like yesterday and ages ago.

Aqua wrapped her arm around his, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Remember when you got lost trying to find the exact same water source?”

“In my defense,” he said, reaching up to tap a hand over hers. “It was in the middle of the night and I was only allowed to use a few spells to find it.”

She hummed, reaching her fingers out just enough to lace between his.

“And you nearly scared me to death when I just see one ball of light floating towards me.”

That time she did laugh, her breath puffing out against the skin of his arm. “Do you think Master heard you scream?”

“I think everyone back at the castle heard me scream.” Terra looked down but Aqua was already watching him, her eyes curved into half moon shapes as her smile was so wide; it nearly made him melt on the spot. There was nothing he could love more than seeing her happy, well, aside from her in general.

“I guess even back then we had bad habits, since I wasn’t supposed to sneak down and help you.”

“Or…” he said, curling his hand down over hers. “We’ve always just been really good partners.”

She made a noise of contentment, leaning her head back against him. It was strange in the sense this sort of comfort, this sort of ability to be close to her seemed like something he’d only dream about hidden from the rest of his world. It was common place now, to be with her, to be together and yet he still tried to hold onto every second of it.

“I can’t wait to see the stars again, they’re so beautiful at the top of the mountain,” Aqua said.

“You mean when we used to sneak out of our tents to see them since Master wasn’t always convinced we wouldn’t fall off the cliff on accident.”

“Yes,” she chuckled. “We never did.”

“Cause I caught you before you did.”

Aqua’s head shot up, a hand covering her mouth. “Oh gods, I forgot about that.”

Terra arched an eyebrow. “How could you forget? You nearly toppled off the side of the cliff.” He could still remember it like it really was yesterday. They shouldn’t have wandered so far from camp alone and with nothing to light their way, but they were dumb teenagers who thought they knew everything. He remembered his heart nearly pounding out of his chest when he heard the crumble of rock and Aqua’s surprised gasp. It was nothing but pure instinct to throw his arms around her waist and force them both away from the crumbling edge.

“I don’t know,” she said, her face relaxing. “Maybe because I was never afraid knowing you had my back.”

Her words had warmth floating into his chest. “I don’t know if I could’ve saved you if Master ever found out.”

Aqua dropped her hands to her lap. “He probably knew anyways.”

He probably did, even if he never chose to say something about it; very little slipped past him.

“Besides, I chose to remember the better times.”

Terra swallowed the small lump in his throat at her unsaid words. It had been a while since…their time lost and while things were good now, it wasn’t like it was easy to forget. “Like what?”

“The stars, us, all the dreams shared under them.”

Terra nodded; he knew the feeling all too well, the memories he fiercely protected when he needed them.

“Hey,” she said, reaching her hands over to push his shoulder lightly. “Tell me one of the dreams you never told me?”

“I told you everything,” he snorted.

That one got him a hit to his arm instead. “Oh, you are such a liar, Terra. You absolutely did not.”

“I told you most things.”

She arched her eyebrows at him, silently daring him to say the words.

He knew that if he didn’t want to say she’d drop it right away but it’s not like he had anything to be embarrassed about anymore. She knew how he felt about her, he knew how she felt about him. How teenage him felt about her should be no surprise. “You,” he said, reaching a hand up to brush some of her bangs that fell into her face. “This.”

Aqua leaned her head into his hand. “Me too.”

Even though they already had this conversation he still couldn’t resist a smile pulling at his lips. “You should’ve told me.”

“You should’ve told me.” She was teasing; he knew by the look in her eyes, he’d know it anywhere. It was always so easy it was to be with her like there was never a day they hadn’t been together.

“Maybe,” he relented but if she had a response he cut her off first, leaning in to press his lips to hers.

She melted into him, reaching her hands up to his face as she kissed him, trying to inch closer on the log. This, he dreamed about this so much, about being kiss her whenever he wanted and by some miracle he got lucky enough that it became his wonderful reality.

“I told you we shouldn’t have left them alone.”

Almost wonderful reality.

He had gotten over being surprised when Ven popped up out of nowhere; because he did it a lot. Terra pulled away when Aqua started to laugh, looking over to Ven holding his canteen smugly and Naminé a step behind, her hands trying to cover her own giggles.

“I told you we shouldn’t have left them alone,” he said.

“Aqua, are you positive bringing two teenagers with us was a great idea?”

She snorted, hitting him in the chest as she stood up. “C’mon, then, why don’t you lead the way for a bit, Ven.”

He looked suspicious. “Is this punishment or…?”

“Just go,” she laughed, waving him along.

Ven took a drink from his canteen as he headed down the path, Naminé walking with him.

Aqua reached a hand down to Terra, helping him up to his feet; though she didn’t let go even when they started walking. “You know what this means right?” she asked, Ven’s voice already starting to chat away as he led the way.

“We’ll both push Ven’s bed mat into the lake.”

She hit her hand against his arm. “We can add some new dreams under the stars.”

Aqua said it so simply, so easy. The air was starting to warm up but it had nothing to do with the warmth in his body. He did have some new dreams that could use a wish or two on some stars. He had fairly good luck so far.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts fanfic #aqua kingdom hearts #terra kingdom hearts #my fics:kh #canonversekh #I'M SO LATE but I'm still a trucking along haha

27 notes · View notes

lyssala · 5 years

Text

#Gummiephone

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Rating: K

Setting: Post KH3

Notes: I’M REAL LATE and will keep being late cause what else can I do haha I struggle a lot with getting back into my writing after my whole life shifted this year but if I can do it for anything its my sweetest babus <3 This was my first finished fic in months so I hope its decent enough!

AO3

The cold didn’t ever bother Terra too much. When he was a kid he found playing in the snow easy even wearing the lightest winter clothes, and while his desire to toss himself in the snow dwindled over the years, his ability to usually stay pretty warm stayed. That even included visiting worlds that were in their season cycle of winter. Admittedly Arendelle was colder than most in their winter, but he still found himself dumping the fur lined jacket, hat, scarf, gloves and every other bit of winter gear Aqua could possibly think of onto one of the ornate chairs in the guest room of the castle. She seemed to forget just because she was always cold didn’t mean he was too.

He stretched his arms over his head, a yawn pulling at his lips as even the soft sweater he was still wearing made him feel hot. Despite the cold stone of the castle and the snow swirling around outside the large window, the castle kept rather warm. He was just about to toss that sweater into the pile too when he heard the soft knock on door frame.

Terra dropped the hem of his sweater, glancing over to the door he knew he left open to see the only other familiar face on this world.

“All set then?” Riku asked. He discarded most of his winter gear, that Aqua also made him take, making him look more fitting in this world in a similar set of shirt, sweater, and pants.

“All set,” Terra said, gesturing to the tossed clothes.

Riku snorted. “She’s just looking out.”

The thought made Terra feel a little bit warmer than he had a moment ago. “I know, but you’ll learn soon enough she worries too much.”

“I think…” Riku said, tapping his fingers on the door frame. “She has every right to.”

Terra opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again. That was fair. It wasn’t like he particularly was fond of leaving her and Ven alone in their home even if he knew it was plenty safe there. Some habits were real hard to break.

“Hey, I’m going to meet with the princesses, I have very specific instructions from Sora.” Riku rolled his eyes though his amused smile was all too familiar. He raised his hand to wave. “Get some sleep I’ll fill you in tomorrow.”

“Alright, see you.”

Riku closed the door behind him, his footsteps soft on the carpet as he walked away. Terra didn’t move until he was sure nothing jumped out to attack the kid; yeah, old habits died hard.

He tossed off the sweater, dumping it with the rest of the winter clothes before looking back to the room around him. Usually he would’ve gone with Riku to make sure everything went okay but since the sisters knew Sora it was decided Riku would probably be best at taking lead on this particular mission. Terra was eager to get back out into the field and do something…do something good like he knew he was capable of but he also could recognize when strategies better fit situations. Plus they had to walk a few miles to even find the town and he was admittedly not exactly back at peak condition.

It was over half a year since everything happened, and despite being back up to regular training and the ability to take and lead missions again he still found himself sore or winded easier than he used to. An effect from what his body went through he assumed, but he wished he’d work out of it so he didn’t feel like such an old man crawling into the large bed to get some rest.

Or he would’ve if he didn’t feel something jab into his thigh.

Terra quickly reached in to grab whatever poked him, only to remember he left his phone in his pocket.

“Why the spikes?” he muttered to himself as he flopped down into the admittedly very comfortable bed. Whoever designed the gummiephones didn’t think about leaving in in your pocket apparently.

He almost just tossed it off onto the night stand so he could sleep but then decided not to. Instead he brought it up to his face, looking over whatever notifications were floating across the screen. He really only checked the mission chat as it sometimes gave them information they needed and may not have started with but he noticed there were other notifications blinking at him.

The dim fire lanterns on the wall flickered slightly but didn’t blow out, still illuminating the room just enough.

There was some sort of group chat but he didn’t even know how he got added to that. Considering the last message was a bunch of winking faces from Xion, Terra was pretty sure he still didn’t want to know. He scrolled down a little bit, seeing some sort of link Sora sent at some point and a message from Lea asking if he could stay at the Land of Departure to get away from Roxas and Xion; both of whom where in the chat too so it was probably just Lea teasing.

Terra did click on the one from Ven, which wasn’t too old, probably just after Terra left for the mission. The chat opened up on the screen, the remnants of the last time Ven tried to message Terra up top but the newer message was a picture. He clicked on it, making the picture of Ven and Aqua making the most dramatic faces imaginable fill up his screen.

Ven: We miss you already, whatever will we do without you

A smile pulled at Terra’s lips. Despite the silliness of it all, it still made him feel a little less lonely. It was nice to know people somewhere missed him, even if they were being ridiculous about it. It was probably late back home but he still tapped in the text box so he could respond; Ven would sleep through it just fine if he was sleeping.

I haven’t even been gone a day. You’ll be fine.

Terra pressed send but lingered on the screen with the picture. It wasn’t the first time any of them left on their own; Aqua took a few missions, as did himself, and while Ven didn’t take any as of yet he was often off visiting his many new friends. Even then it still made a part of Terra wish he was home. He was more than happy to be able to start rebuilding the life he thought he lost, but part of losing that life was losing the people he loved. He had them back now, and even though it was rocky at first to work through old hurt and new pain, home was feeling more and more like home.

He loved being given the change to work on being the peacekeeper he always wanted to be but at the same time, traveling away from Aqua and Ven made him more homesick than it used to.

Terra clicked out of the chat when he was sure Ven was sleeping well enough to not respond. As much as Terra wanted the interaction to feel closer to home, it was more of a relief that Ven was not responding right away meaning he wasn’t laying in bed on his phone unable to sleep. It was an issue for them all at first, but nightmares started to fade and sleep started to come easier for them all. Granted, now he was the one laying in bed staring at his phone.

He pressed on another set of notifications, bringing up pictures this time. He recognized the app as something Ven excitedly showed Terra the moment they were given the gummiephones. It was a way to post pictures and everyone who was connected to your account could see it…or something like that. He sort of just smiled and nodded at Ven as he explained the whole thing.

With a flick of a thumb, Terra scrolled through the pictures, recognizing faces and even places as Riku was one who posted a shot of Arendelle Castle when they got here. There were a few comments; Kairi saying she thought it was beautiful but she wasn’t sure she could handle the cold, Sora immediately chiming in that it was freezing there and what was wrong with Riku that an island boy like him could take the cold so well.

There was also a comment from Aqua, a small picture of her next to her name and text. She wrote about missing the snow covered worlds, and that she’d love to see it. Pretty typical; Aqua loved the snow even if she also was always cold. He was about to keep scrolling but he saw the timestamp next to her post, that it was only made five minutes ago.

She was still awake.

He hesitated, thumb over her picture. He knew enough that if he clicked on it, he’d be taken to the profile she set up and from there he could message her or call her. A part of him wanted to. It was a long day, trudging through the snow and staying in an unfamiliar bed. The other part of him told him he saw her this morning and it hadn’t even been twenty four hours yet so rationally he shouldn’t miss the sound of her voice yet.

Rational or not, he did.

With a groan he pushed the phone down onto the bed, his head leaning back against the headboard with a dull thud. Maybe it was rational; time passing or not he spent a very long time without someone he used to spend everyday with. He barely remembered the time he lived with Master Eraqus before Aqua. She was always there and when she wasn’t…

He closed his eyes, chest contracting at the swirl of dark memories that flooded his mind. It used to be very hard to push them away, choosing to sink into the guilt of what was done but tonight he could open his eyes and remember the past was the past. He was okay, she was okay, just a little farther away tonight. Which wasn’t common, but it also wasn’t uncommon as they started on the path that they were trained to follow.

Still, there was nothing wrong with checking in, right? Nothing weird about just wanting to make sure his home was safe while he was away. That was completely reasonable. Totally normal to call up his best friend in the middle of the night with an excuse he was checking in when really he missed hearing her knock on his door with two cups of tea to share in a quiet moment before bed.

Totally normal.

He quickly picked up his phone, clicking where he last saw her picture. It brought him to a familiar profile layout so he knew where to find the video call button before he could lose his confidence. The ringing noise echoed in the room as his call was going through.

Terra quickly jumped out of bed (not without nearly falling out as his legs got tangled on the blankets in his effort to move fast) to walk over to the window. There was a small place to sit, the moonlight from outside shining in over the cushions and pillows that sat there. He didn’t know why he needed to move, anxious energy he supposed, but the calling screen cut out just as he was sitting down. He held up the phone to try and remember how Ven said was the best way to angle it but Terra’s stomach fell so fast he nearly dropped the phone.

The background of the call was a vibrant blue sky, palm trees scattered around. While blue eyes were watching him, it wasn’t the blue eyes he wanted to see.

“Terra?” Kairi asked, her forehead furrowed slightly. “Is something wrong?”

“Terra?” Another voice piped up from somewhere nearby. “You mean he actually knows how to call someone?”

More red hair filled the screen, so much of it that it nearly covered the entirety of it.

“Axel,” Kairi snorted, reaching a hand up to shove his face away.

Terra wished he could just hang up and pretend this never happened but he could only hope in the poor lighting of the room they couldn’t see how hot his face felt. “Mmm, yeah, I know how to call people.”

Kairi clicked her tongue, a smile pulling across her lips that was uncomfortably like the redhead still trying to squeeze his face in view. “Just not the right people.”

Terra would never say Kairi wasn’t perspective. He must’ve been in such a panic to actually call Aqua, he didn’t check to make sure he was still clicking on the right picture. His phone probably scrolled up when he tossed it and he just didn’t notice. “No,” he tried, but he had nothing to follow that up.

“Nice try,” Axel said. “If Red needed to know anything about the mission, tall, silver and broody would’ve called her.”

“Stop it,” Kairi chuckled.

“What I’m wondering…” he said, tapping his finger against his chin. “Is how you called Kairi, her name should be nowhere near Aqua’s in the contact list.”

Terra really hoped his choke couldn’t be heard over the phone. “That’s not…I wasn’t…” What could he say? That was who he meant to call.

“Leave him alone,” Kairi said, though she was laughing as she tried to push Axel away again. “I assume it’s late there. Have a goodnight, Terra.”

He always knew he liked Kairi. “Yeah, you too.”

“Try searching under A next-” Axel’s voice was cut off as Kairi ended the call.

Terra groaned as he hung his head. He had done some stupid things in his life, he wasn’t sure if he had done anything quite as embarrassing as that. He should just go to bed and call it a night. Yet even despite knowing he’d never hear the end of that especially from Axel, Terra still wanted to talk to Aqua.

This time he did search under A, finding her name and her picture. He pressed the call button, heart still pounding in his chest though whether cause he didn’t know how she’d respond or because of the last call he accidentally made, he wasn’t sure.

This time when the calling screen ended, he was greeted with a familiar background. It was the library in the castle, a place he knew like the back of his hand. Firelight from the fireplace sent a glow onto the well loved couch, Aqua’s face looking more worried than anything when she came into view.

“What’s wrong?” she asked in that tone that meant she was trying to keep calm but inwardly starting to freak out.

He snorted but he felt a smile pull at his lips, warmth filling his chest like he was sitting in front of the fireplace too. “Why does everyone say that when I call them?”

She seemed to be satisfied that him, Riku, or the mission weren’t in danger because she leaned back against the couch. Terra could see the blankets piled up in her lap, the book she must’ve discarded when he called off to the side. “Because you never call anyone.”

“Fair, I guess,” he said. “The castle is huge here, you know.”

“Yeah,” she breathed, tucking her legs under her in an effort to make herself more comfortable. “I saw the picture, it looked beautiful.”

“Its different, you know, different from home. Nice in its own way, but think I like ours better.”

“Are you homesick?” Aqua asked, her tone just slightly teasing.

“Homesick for what? Ven snoring so loud I can’t sleep and waking up thinking the castle is on fire but its just you up at the crack of dawn baking a multi-tiered cake or something ridiculous?”

The answer was yes though and her smiled seemed to know it. “Did you stay warm? In all the clothes you took?”

“Aqua, I could’ve been buried in an avalanche and I still would’ve been sweating in all the clothes you gave me.”

“Huh, well, maybe you’ll be thanking me when an avalanche hits you.”

He laughed and it made her laugh, her eyes curving into half moons and her smile wrinkling her cheeks some. It was so familiar to him. It reminded him of notes passed to her when Master had his back to them during a lecture, silly drawings to make her smile when the rest of the lesson was so dry. It reminded him of warm summer days when he’d jump off into the lake purposely too close to her to make the water splash up to get her wet. Of dessert snuck to her way past bedtime when he knew she was up studying. Of him being pinned to the ground yet again, her leaning over him in victory. Of very late nights outside under the stars with Ven asleep next to them as Terra told her everything he wanted to do in the worlds.

“I miss you,” he said, probably not very gracefully but all the memories, the lifetime of memories that he never thought he’d get back just made it so hard to feel so far away again.

Her face softened as she leaned her head back against the couch. “I miss you too. Home’s emptier without you. It always is when you were gone.”

“You’d like it here though,” he said, clearing his throat. “Lots of snow and frost for you to freeze in and pretend you’re fine but your fingers are turning purple.”

“Lucky for me there’s someone whose always warm and I can shove my hands up his shirt.”

He snorted, though even the thought of her freezing hands against him was a warm thought. “I should’ve expected that.”

She was quiet for a moment, just sort of watching the screen. He almost asked if she wanted to leave so she could sleep but she shifted the phone a little instead.

“Will you take me?” she asked.

“Take you where?”

“To Arendelle, when the mission is done. Will you take me back there?”

“Absolutely,” he said. “Anywhere.”

Her smile had his heart in his throat, so did the thought of going somewhere with her, just her that had nothing to do with missions or jobs.

Aqua looked like she was about to say something but her eyes flickered to the top of the screen for a few moments instead. “Terra?”

“Hmm?”

“Why is Axel asking me if you finally called me?”

Terra hit his head back against the stone of the wall. Embarrassment was there once again, but for once it wasn’t enough to make the comforting feelings of talking to Aqua made him feel. “I’m going to kill him.”

Aqua laughed, and Terra couldn’t remember even why he was nervous to call her in the first place. She was the one person he never needed to be nervous around, someone who accepted him for everything he was and everything he wasn’t.

Well, he was a little nervous at how much his heart skipped when she arched her eyebrows at him, her way of prompting him to tell the story with her usual smile still on her lips. Ven and the other kids liked to tease Terra that he was dense or oblivious but he wasn’t that much so, he was aware of what it meant at least.

That was absolutely not for tonight though.

He snorted instead, holding the phone up a little so he could shift back against the wall behind him.

“Did you know that yours and Kairi’s names are surprisingly close in the contact list?”

She leaned her head back against the couch and he imagined if he was sitting next to her she would’ve nudged her leg over to kick him. “Liar.”

“No, its true, right next to each other.”

“You called her name without even looking to make sure it was me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, that was it.”

Aqua laughed again, and he never thought he would ever be tired of the sound. “You really need to learn how to use your phone, Ter. It’s important, not just for the kids to post pictures.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it handled.”

She paused for a second, and he thought she was about to tell him she had to go; the thought alone making him feel lonely again. “I’m glad you called.”

That was enough, that was worth it all. To know on some level she was happy to see him too. Maybe he would make an effort to learn how to use the phone better if it meant he’d get to feel closer to her while they were apart.

“Me too.”

#terraqua #terraqua week #kingdom hearts fanfic #kingdom hearts terra #kingdom hearts aqua #my fics:kh #canonversekh

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Seasons

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Rating: K+

Setting: Modern AU; Neighbors who don’t really know each other well

Notes: The first modern au in the group! (maybe only I haven't decided haha) I saw an imagine of Terra shoveling her driveway in the winter and I just went for it haha Just something cute and sappy <3

AO3

Winter

Aqua was already reaching for the thermostat, trying to see if she could inch it up any higher. There was a heavy blanket already over her shoulders but it didn’t seem to do anything to get the chill out of her house. That was completely the fault of the constant falling snow outside which while lovely usually, was incredibly annoying today.

“So you’re on your way is what you’re saying,” Aerith’s voice said over the phone.

“You’re really gonna lay the guilty trip on?” Aqua walked back into her living room where her TV was on mute though the screen was still moving. She glanced out the window for what she felt was the millionth time this morning already. It was unchanged; still gray skies, still snow piling down in big, fluffy snowflakes. She loved it as a kid, not so much when she couldn’t drive because of it.

“Yes,” Aerith said simply. “If it gets that butt of yours over here.” There was some commotion in the background; a few people chatting, Zack’s boisterous laughter, Tifa trying to ask an opinion on if something tasted good or not, Marlene chatting off someone’s ear nearby.

“I didn’t ask you to be seven months pregnant in the middle of January,” Aqua said as she walked over to the window to see if anything was lightening up at all. No luck.

“Funny.” Aerith hummed, that usual amusement in her tone. “Neither did I.”

“Don’t play that. I’ve never seen two people happier to tell everyone they were having a baby than you two.”

Aerith paused, seemingly understanding that was a dead end. “Squall is even here for the shower.”

“An achievement, I agree, but he can still walk to your house and also never says no to Rinoa. Don’t even try with Cloud either, I know him and Tifa are there because they are literally your neighbors. I still have to drive on barely plowed rows.”

There was some scrapping noise outside that almost distracted Aqua enough to look but it was probably just one of her neighbors braving the storm to shovel.

“Clearly the only solution is for you to move closer to us. Your nephew is going to miss you being so far away.”

Despite the frustration, the thought made Aqua smile. “So far away isn’t so far away when the weather is nice.”

“A fair point.” Aerith sighed. “Jokes aside, as much as we want you here, your safety is more important.”

“It sucks,” Aqua huffed. “And to imagine I bought so many presents that now I can’t bring you.”

Aerith chuckled and she did say something in response but Aqua found herself looking towards the window, wondering why the shoveling noises were getting louder. What she wasn’t expecting was to see a figure in her driveway shoveling around her snow covered car.

“Jesus,” Aqua gasped, stumbling back from the window in surprise.

“What? What’s wrong?”

She looked back out the window slowly this time, but the person was still here shoveling higher up her driveway, making almost a path from the sidewalk to her door. “Someone is shoveling my driveway.”

“Well, send them over here when they’re done.”

Aqua rolled her eyes, well aware her friend couldn’t see her. The snow was still thick so she tried to make out who it could be. Her neighborhood was nice, yeah, but she didn’t think it was that nice.

“Is it that cutie who lives next door to you?” Aerith asked, though this time it sounded like she was eating.

“It’s not,” Aqua said though honestly she couldn’t tell. She only ever really saw her neighbor in passing with a friendly wave. It was Aerith who dubbed him the cute boy next door.

Judging by the stature, it probably was a man with broad shoulders under a heavy jacket. He had his hands covered with gloves as he swiped some of the snow out of the way. His face wasn’t covered completely, just a headband that covered his forehead and ears, pushing back thick brown hair speckled with snowflakes.

Her stomach flipped a little. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Aerith repeated. “It is the cute guy next door isn’t it!”

“Will you stop calling him that,” Aqua whispered like her neighbor could actually hear her.

“Sure, when it stops being true.”

“I don’t know what he’s doing, I’ve never asked him to help me before.”

“Huh, pretty girl, lives alone, driveway full of snow. Wonder what he could be doing.”

“I’m hanging up on you.”

“Zack’s trying to take the phone away from me anyway. Love you, make good choices.” She paused. “You know what I mean by good.”

“Aerith,” Aqua warned.

“Love you too, Aqua,” Zack’s voice said.

“Have fun, I’ll try to make it if it clears up.”

“We’ll leave a spot open for you all day and night.”

Aqua thought he said bye before he hung up but she was admittedly incredibly distracted by the person currently still working his way up her driveway.

Terra was his name, he knew that even though Aerith refused to call him by his name. Aqua met him when she first moved in; he was doing some yard work and waved over the fence to introduce himself. Yes, he was cute that’s true but aside from a few friendly acquaintance interactions that’s all it ever was. She was pretty sure the only time he ever got this close to her house before was when the mailman accidentally delivered her package to himself. She didn’t even know what he did for a living; she assumed it was construction or painting or something like that judging by how she’d catch him leaving or coming home from work.

No reason why she never interacted with him before, outside of he seemed fairly quiet. Never left home for too long, rarely ever had people over so she always thought she’d be intruding on him. Clearly he didn’t have the same sentiments. It was a nice gesture though, she’d have to do something to make it up to him.

The knock on the door nearly had her fumbling backwards as she tried not to fall.

She was at least dressed before she was planning on going to the baby shower but she was so surprised he was making his presence known she forgot to let go of the blanket she had draped around her. Aqua moved over to the door, carefully opening it incase he wasn’t actually standing there and just letting her know he was there.

Nope, he was standing there, shovel sort of awkwardly in his hands like he didn’t know what to do with it as he gave her a shy smile. He was covered in snow, standing out against his dark hair and dark jacket, jeans wet even despite the heavy boots he wore. Even the tan skin of his face had speckled dots of snow and blotches of red. In the summer in a tank top and shorts or in the winter completely covered in snow he was still very cute.

“Hey, um…” Terra started, shifting his weight. “I hope I didn’t scare you.”

“Oh, no,” she said waving him off even though he absolutely did. “But you didn’t have to do any of that for me. I was just planning on staying in. I appreciate it, please don’t get me wrong, but I don’t want you to feel like you had to. I would’ve done it eventually.”

“When it’s a little warmer?” he asked, nodding towards her where she was still clutching her blanket.

She wanted to be embarrassed but there was nothing malicious in his tone or expression to make her feel embarrassed. “I don’t like the cold, obviously.”

“Obviously,” he snorted, his smile a little wider that time. “But, um, really I was coming to offer you a ride.”

She blinked at him.

“It’s, ah…” Terra hesitated like he was the one who was embarrassed. “Zack and his wife, Aerith. It’s their baby shower today right?”

Aqua almost just blinked at him again but this time in her surprise she managed to speak. “Well, yeah, how did you know that?”

Terra shrugged slightly. “I, ah, know Zack. We go to the same gym. He really loves to talk.”

She couldn’t help but smile at the image of him chatting up a complete stranger at the gym. “Yeah, that sounds like Zack.”

“We go to the gym around the same time every day so I see him a lot. He asked me where I lived once so I told him and he mentioned you were one of his wife’s best friends.” Terra shrugged again like none of this was a big deal when this was the most he had ever spoken to her really. “He also invited me to the shower but I really only know him and Cloud so I just didn’t feel comfortable but I happened to notice you were getting snowed in.” Terra paused again. “If it was my best friend’s baby shower I wouldn’t want to miss it, I assumed you’d feel the same.”

Aqua was well aware she was standing in the open doorway, letting the wind and snow blow at them. “You want to give me a ride to their house?”

“Ah, yeah, if you want.” He turned around slightly, pointing to a pick up truck that was parked in the road. “I’m used to driving in bad weather in all seasons so I don’t mind doing so.”

“Oh,” was about all she could manage. When this sequence of events started, she did not expect this outcome.

“If you want,” he said again, fumbling the shovel a little bit. “You don’t have to, I was just…um…”

“Oh, no, no, its very kind of you.” She said, reaching a hand up to let him know she wasn’t upset. “I just wasn’t expecting to be able to go.”

A particularly strong wind gust blew in making her once again realize she just had the door wide open.

“Please, come in.” She stepped aside to let him in, closing the door behind him; though he really only took a few steps, seemingly more concerned about dropping melted snow onto her floor. At least she could say she found out her neighbor was surprisingly over considerate.

Aqua quickly went to dump the blanket back on the couch, flipping off the TV as she did. “You’re sure you’d okay with this? It’s really gross outside. I don’t want you to be in danger on the road either.”

He waved her off, still not moving from his spot. “I’ve driven in worse, its fine.”

She was mid shoving her phone into her purse when she paused. “Worse than this?”

“I grew up far more north than this.” He gave her a mix of a smile and grimace. “I’ve seen worse.”

Aqua grabbed her coat out of the closet, slipping on the closest boots she could find. “What made you move down here?” She paused to let him answer but quickly gasped when she realized she didn’t have the cookies she made or the present.

“Ah, change of scenery I guess,” he said, his voice a little distance as she hurried into the kitchen. The blue and purple cookies were sitting snuggly in the container she packed them in next to the too big present on the counter.

She balanced the cookies in one arm and looped the bag on the other, hurrying back into the living room. “Well, I hope you like it down here.”

Terra looked at her, a sort of amused look in his eyes, probably at her incredibly disheveled look. He reached out to grab the cookies from her. “Yeah, its been nice. Ready?”

“Ready,” she said, maneuvering the gift bag so she could find her keys…somewhere. Her pocket, okay. She pulled them out as he opened the door, stepping outside so she could lock the door behind them.

The snow was still coming down and the wind was blowing pretty hard but the path he shoved was clear enough for her to get to his truck with little trouble. Aqua climbed in, placing the bag by her feet while he passed her the cookies so he could start the car. She quickly tucked her hands between her legs to warm them up, feeling the chill from outside even though they were away from the wind. The truck started smoothly despite the fact it looked like an older car. His headlights shone over the snow covered roads, but Terra didn’t seem too concerned. He was leaned back in his seat, one hand on the wheel and the other on the stick shift as he drove at a steady speed down the road.

“So…” Aqua started, feeling the need to make conversation and also feeling very curious about her neighbor that she learned more about in five minutes than she had in five months. “You said you’re from up north?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Where they don’t close schools or businesses even in blizzards. You get used to driving in it.”

“But you’re a…” God, how did she asked him what he did for a living without sounding like a complete idiot. “Seasonal worker?”

He glanced over at her, that amused look coming back and okay, Aerith was right, he was the cute guy next door. “Mostly. People don’t really need carpenters or painters in the dead of the winter but anyone doing interior construction I can still work.”

Aqua breathed a sigh of relief; at least she assumed what he did correctly. “It’s funny.”

“What is?”

“I never knew so much about you than I do today.”

He laughed softly. “Yeah, I can’t say I’m great at introducing myself.”

“I’d say you did a great job today.”

He shrugged, something she was beginning to think was almost a nervous habit; something he did when he didn’t know what to say. “I never wanted to bother you, but I thought today might be an exception.”

“Well, fair is fair,” she said. Despite the fact she hated the cold, the untouched snow as they drove through the neighborhood lingering on the trees and the bushes, it really was beautiful. “I lived a few hours away from here but moved here for college, met my good friends, got a job downtown and decided to stay out here.”

“You’re a nurse?” He glanced over, mainly to check the road so he could turn onto it. “I’ve seen you in scrubs but I didn’t want to assume.”

“No, you’re right.” It was actually a little nice to know he noticed her enough to put two and two together. “I work at a family doctor though so no crazy hospital life for me.”

“I’m sure that’s nice.”

“I like keeping busy, but I also don’t like having to work all those long hours. I admire the people who can, not me. I need some downtime.”

He hummed in response. “I understand.”

“Considering you never leave your house I’m sure you do.”

“Stalking me now?” he asked with a glance at her.

In another context she may’ve been worried she crossed a line but he didn’t look upset remotely. “I can’t help but notice my recluse neighbor.”

“I’m not a recluse,” he snorted. “Just like things quiet.”

“Okay, well, I can’t fault you. My friends are Zack and Aerith, clearly I don’t.”

“Good people though. Well, I assume. I never met her, but I feel like I have thanks to Zack.”

The heat was starting to come on, making her feel a little less stiff. “You should come in, I bet he’d be happy to see you.”

“Oh, no, it’s okay.” Terra paused again to turn onto a road that at least looked a little plowed. “Like I said, I only know him and one other person.”

“Three, now. You’ve stepped into my house, we’re friends.”

“Okay, I get you think I’m a recluse but I’m not a vampire.”

She laughed; for some reason it was funnier than it should’ve been. “Okay, okay, point still stands.”

“Its right up there, isn’t?” he asked nodding to the street he was turning on.

Where they here already? That seemed to go by way faster than she imagined it. “Yeah, with the sad snow covered balloons on the mailbox.”

Terra carefully pulled the truck up to the driveway, shifting it down so he could sit in an idle; meaning he probably wouldn’t take her up on her offer. Shame, she had a nice time talking with him. “I don’t want to be presumptuous, but if you need me to get you afterwards I can.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t want you risking your life another back and worth trip.”

“Mmm, because we almost died so many times.”

She tried not to giggle, which was super not age appropriate but she did. “I’ll just stay here if I need to, I know they won’t mind.” Aqua knew she could leave it at that, thank him, grab her stuff and go. Instead she decided she’d be the presumptuous one. “But since we’re friends now you should still give me your number just in case.”

He blinked at her, those eyes of him almost looking brighter against the snowy background outside his window. “Uh, sure, yeah, okay.” He gestured for her to pass him her phone, which she scrambled to give him. A few types later and he was passing it back while she gathered all her things.

“Thanks, Terra, I really appreciate it. I’ll pay you back, promise.” She popped open the door as he was waving to her.

“My pleasure, don’t worry about it.”

She tried to wave without both dropping her things and slipping on the snowy driveway but managed to do it. Aqua could hear his car still idling, probably waiting to make sure she got in.

Aerith was standing at the screen door, well, as close as she could get to the screen door with her swollen stomach. She opened it when Aqua got close enough, ushering her in to the warmth of the house; which also smelt really good.

She turned around to see Terra driving off down the street.

“Huh,” Aerith said, reaching up to brush some of the snow from Aqua’s hair, and reach for the container of cookies. “He’s even cuter now isn’t he.”

Aqua was still watching his taillights before disappearing into the falling snow. Yeah, he actually really was.

Spring

There was something about the fresh smell of grass mixed with the sweet flowers, the cool chill of the air and the bright sunshine with blue skies that made Aqua just feel light. She stood in her front yard, bending over to pick some of the fresh bloomed daffodils that she wasn’t sure would make it because of the late frost. They persevered just like she did through the cold winter months to finally feel the sunshine. She could even bring out her summer dresses paired with a light sweater to feel a little more vibrant and free than bundling up in winter gear made her feel.

Usually that would be enough to brighten all her spirits but she felt a knot in her stomach that just wouldn’t go away no matter how many flowers she looked at.

Aqua glanced over to the quiet house next door; truck in the driveway, house quiet with no shadows or movement no matter how often she tried not to look. Okay, okay, it wasn’t that weird. Terra didn’t go out much save for work, the gym, or other errands. Even on nights he went out for food or cooked something extra he’d swing by and give her some. She’d tease him that she knew how to cook for herself but always eagerly eat it anyways. Lately though, when she left for work his car was still in the same spot and then when she came home, still same spot. She hoped the warm weather would bring him out, and she assumed his work would pick up too, but nothing.

She bit down on her lip as she looked over, even trying to catch a glimmer of movement. Its not like he moved with no notice; he would’ve taken his car and its not like she couldn’t just text him to make sure everything was okay. Though he hadn’t texted her in the past few days so she wasn’t sure if she’d be bothering him or not. That was still better than asking Zack if Terra had been at the gym lately which was opening up a whole door of teasing she did not want.

She huffed, some of her bangs blowing into her face as she did. This was silly, they were friends. She was allowed to check in on her friends when she was worried. That was completely reasonable.

Without giving herself a moment to second guess she walked down to the sidewalk and headed up to the path that would lead to Terra’s front porch. She had been in his house a few times, on nights they wanted to hang out and he offered to cook for her (he cooked really well too so she never turned him down) but this somehow felt different. Maybe it was because she was walking up his porch steps without an invitation or without a batch of cookies she made for him knowing she could pass it off and leave.

Aqua knew why it made her nervous; she wasn’t dumb. Here was this nice, beautiful, generous guy who lived next door to her that she actually got a long with really well. She didn’t want to overstep boundaries and lose that.

She carefully knocked on his door, the echo resonating but no other sounds but a car driving by behind her. Another knock, just to be safe.

Still nothing.

She shifted her weight, unsure if she should just give up and text him; at least if he responded she’d know he was alive and not ignoring her. She didn’t think there was a reason he’d be ignoring her but she wouldn’t deny it was a fear. Maybe one more knock to be…extra safe.

That time there was a thud from somewhere in the house.

It was a reliving to know he was alive and it was quickly almost completely taken over by dread when she realized she might’ve woken him. It was almost one in the afternoon so she wasn’t sure why she had that fear but she was suddenly aware that she was imposing on him when he may not want anyone imposing.

The door creaked open and Terra was leaning up against the door frame. He tried to give her a smile but something wasn’t quite right in how he was holding himself. “Hey,” he said, and even his tone was off.

Aqua watched him carefully for a moment but she recognized it almost on instant. His face was red, specifically around his nose and cheeks. His eyes looked swollen, though not from crying but from irritation. He was leaning up against the doorway to make him look like he was standing up tall as usual but he was slouched with exhaustion. His usually clean shaven face was scuffy, hair looking like he just rolled out of bed. Considering his shirt tag was in front of his neck, he must’ve just thrown on whatever was around when he realized she was at his door.

“Oh, Terra,” she said, holding her hand up to her chest. “Are you sick?”

“Ahh,” he started and she can hear the congestion in his throat and nose; not like she hadn’t heard it a million times in patients. “A little.”

Aqua doesn’t miss the way his hand hit down on the door frame, a way to hold himself up even though his facial expression was unchanging. “A little,” she repeated. “How many days have you been sleeping almost nonstop?”

He paused, blinking like he was trying to remember. “A few days…” he cleared his throat as he started to get choked up. “Maybe.”

She knew he didn’t live with anyone, and also knew he didn’t have family too nearby; even more so she knew he’d never ask for help. So what she wanted to do was easy. “Okay, inside with you, c’mon.”

“Aqua,” he said. “You don’t…” He trailed off as he reached his elbow up to cough in it.

“Stop it, I know how to take care of a cold.” She stepped a little closer to reach her hand up to his forehead. “And fever. Are you cold?”

“It’s a weird feeling,” he mumbled, eyes closing ever so slightly.

For a second she thought he might fall and she braced herself to grab him but he steadied, eyes squinting at her.

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine.”

“Stop,” she snorted. “Get inside and sit down, wrap yourself in a blanket.”

Terra looked like he was going to fight but he stepped out of the way, wobbling slightly as she closed the door behind him. It actually looked like he never quite made it up to his room by the state of the living room. His couch was covered in blankets, various wrappers from cough drops and drug store medicine all over the coffee table. There were some clothes and towels strewn about the floor; some empty mugs and water bottles.

“I…umm…” he started, trying to toe some of the clothing out of the way.

“Don’t worry,” Aqua said, gesturing for him to sit on the couch. “I’ve seen worse, you’re fine. Mind if I use the kitchen?”

“Ah, please, go ahead.” He leaned up against the side of the couch, watching her as she looked around for anything she could use as a remedy for him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She picked up a clean mug from the drying rack and set it to the side, opening his cabinets to see what he had for tea.

“Didn’t want to bother you,” he coughed, which sounded like it hurt.

“I’m a nurse, Terra, its not a bother, its what I do.” There, some loose leaf mint tea which would help clear some of his sinuses.

“Yeah, but that’s the point. We’re friends I didn’t want to…um…” he trailed off like he forgot what he was saying. “Use you.”

“Stop, its not using, its helping.” She tried to ignore the fact that his answer meant he thought about contacting her when he didn’t feel well. The closest pan looked questionable but he had a tea pot at least that looked clean so she went to prep the tea to be able to boil water for him. “Are you eating?”

“Crackers,” he answered. “Nothing else is very, um, pleasant.”

“I’m going to leave once this is done and make you something easy to eat. Crackers and medicine is probably making your stomach worse.”

“Aqua,” he started to protest but she turned back to face him.

“Sit your ass down and relax, Terra Hale.”

A smile cracked his lips and it was probably the best look he had on his face since she walked in. He relented and sat down on the couch, coughing again as he did. She quickly moved to him, draping a blanket over his shoulders.

“You should know,” she said, a little softer this time but that was mainly because even though he looked pretty sick his eyes were still a beautiful shade of blue. “Being friends with me means you aren’t alone. You don’t have to do everything by yourself.”

Terra didn’t say anything for a moment. “Okay.”

“Good,” she moved back to the kitchen but this time she had a hard time looking away from him. He was completely sick and probably contagious and she just wanted to hold him till he felt better.

Aqua instead cleared her throat and went back to watching the tea, that was safer than those eyes of his.

Summer

Heat baked down on Aqua as she carefully ran her hose over the flowers blooming in her front yard. She didn’t mind so much because she much preferred it to the freezing cold of the winter, but she could do without the glare of the sun for a little bit; even her sunglasses didn’t seem to do much against the blinding light.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, causing her to shut off the hose for a moment to check. It was unsurprisingly a picture from Aerith, but ones Aqua loved to see. She quickly pushed up her sunglasses onto her forehead, opening the message to see Zack holding up a giggly baby dressed in the smallest swim gear Aqua had ever seen.

Aerith:

Is this enticing enough for you to come over to go swimming today?

It was hard not to smile at the sight of her little nephew with a grin that could already rival his dad’s. Also swimming sounded really good.

Maybe, I still have some work at home to finish

Aqua went to go put her phone in her pocket so she could get back to her flowers but it buzzed before she could; a sure sign Aerith was waiting for Aqua to turn it down.

Aerith:

Invite Terra too. Zack always tries to but Terra never bites bet he wouldn’t turn you down though

Yeah, that Aqua should’ve been expecting.

How dare you think I’m somehow more charming than Zack, that’s like physically impossible

Some water flicked by Aqua’s legs making her jump out of the grass but there was nothing around her feet but the grass, her hose was still off. There was the distant sound of Terra washing his car in his driveway; something she was trying to ignore honestly because it was highly distracting to see him out in the sun like that. She quickly glanced over but he didn’t even have a hose, just a sponge covered in soap as his arm worked in steady circles against the tire of the truck.

Aqua almost dropped her phone when it buzzed again.

Aerith:

Touché but I’m pretty sure Zack isn’t quite Terra’s type, so he’d probably go for an invitation from you more

There was an appeal, to go over to her friend’s house and see them and the cutest baby Aqua had ever seen; then even more so to go with someone she did like a lot.

That time water absolutely hit the back of her leg, soaking down into her sandals. She tried not to gasp at the sudden cold but when she heard a snicker she knew she didn’t do a very good job. Aqua snapped her head over to where Terra was. If he was any good at hiding his expressions maybe he would’ve gotten away with it but even as he was standing up to scrub at more of his truck he had a shit eating grin on his lips.

Aqua slipped her phone back in her pocket and aimed her hose upwards, pressing down on the nozzle so it sprayed water in a clear arc over to where Terra was. She turned around quickly to water her flowers.

It wasn’t like she shot a hose at anyone as of late so she wasn’t quite sure she hit him but she knew she got close when cold water blasted at her back. That time she screamed in surprise though honestly it wasn’t like she hadn’t egged him on.

She whipped around and sure enough he was standing with his hose still in hand, his shirt half sticking to him. She felt a grin at her lips when she realized she did hit him.

He must’ve noticed because he shot another stream of water towards her but this time she had the sense to dive behind her car.

“Terra!” she called out trying not to laugh as water shot over her and into her grass.

“Yeah?”

“Did you get bored?”

“Possibly.”

She could hear the smile in his voice and it made her heart flutter. Aqua poked her head over but he was ready, water hitting her car as she ducked back behind. Oh no, this wasn’t going to do. She quickly jumped up, pushing the lever on her hose as she angled the hose back. He was doing the same judging by the rush of water that came at her. She moved mostly out of the way, only a splash getting at her side but Terra was quick, recovering to move his hose again.

She cried out in laughter closing her eyes to block out the water splashing at her as she ran across her driveway, hose snaking along behind her so she should hit him better. Aqua couldn’t see as she aimed but judging by the sputtered laughter she at least hit him.

“Alright, alright,” he coughed as the water died down around her.

She peeked an eye open, lowering her hose just incase he’d pull a fast one but he was just reaching up to brush his sopping bangs from his face. “You thought you could beat me didn’t you.”

“Clearly I was wrong,” he snorted but the smile on his face told her he wasn’t mad. Did he know he had the most adorable dimples? Maybe? She probably shouldn’t tell him that at the moment considering she was dripping from head to toe on his driveway.

“Clearly.” Aqua paused as she watched him, not turning to go back to cleaning his car, still just watching her with an expression that made her feel like the sun was a lot brighter. It would be easy to wave and turn back to go to her yard, say thanks for the distraction and get back to work. Their hang outs were noncommittal, casual, and easy but was there something wrong with a little more?

Maybe it was the heat, the sun, the fact she was already drenched with water, but she tossed her hose back into her yard instead. “Hey, you wanna take a break with me?”

Terra’s eyebrows arched up. “Oh, hey, yeah, sure.”

“Wanna go over to Zack and Aerith’s? They invited us to go swimming.”

Terra nearly dropped his hose onto the bucket of soap near his feet but he managed to catch it. “Oh, yeah, okay, that actually sounds sorta nice.”

She blinked at him, unsure if the fact he didn’t ask why Aerith invited him specifically or that he actually said yes surprised Aqua more. “Okay, well, I’ll just, you know, go get changed into dry clothes just to get soaking wet again.”

“Intentionally this time,” he added, dropping the hose into the bucket carefully.

Aqua was already walking backwards to her house, unable to keep some dumb grin off her lips. “That’s what you think, I wouldn’t stand to close to the edge of the pool, I need some payback.”

“Try me,” he said.

She had to turn around to face her house because the farther she got away the easier it was to see the lines of his body under his shirt, to see how bright his eyes looked in the sunlight. Aqua decided to ignore the fact it would probably only get worse as the day went on.

Also that she would absolutely ignore the horribly smug look Aerith would get then Aqua and Terra showed up at the house.

Autumn

It wasn’t something Aqua usually baked, but the spiced aroma of pumpkin mixed with the salt of pecans actually was pretty appealing. She pulled it out of the oven only making the smell fill her kitchen even more. With a content sigh she placed in on a warmer and then into a little basket she prepared. It was a little early for Thanksgiving but the cooler air and the way the leaves were changing put her in a baking mood.

She grabbed the basket and quickly headed to the door, the long skirt she chose to wear brushing along the floor as she did.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t super spontaneous but there was really nothing like surprising Terra with a treat he’d like. He was very particular and it took her a little bit to find him things he’d actively eat. Once she did though, it was always worth it to see his smile. She closed the door behind her, looking down at her outfit just to make sure everything was still in place after she went to change.

Maybe it wasn’t as innocent as she pretended it to be either. How else were you supposed to tell your neighbor you had feelings for them if you didn’t bake them pies from scratch? It was silly, maybe, they were adults, she didn’t need to play school yard games with him. Yet everything she tried to make a move or do anything to let him know how she really felt, she found herself too nervous she’d ruined the friendship she grew to love.

Still, it was getting complicated when all she wanted to do was just be able to kiss him, or run her hands through his hair, to hold his hand just because she wanted to or cuddle close to him when she was freezing and he wasn’t at all. Instead she was making stupid excuses like pie just for to see him.

Aqua walked the familiar path to his house, up the steps and went to knock at the door. She ended up not needing to because he was already opening it. “Oh!” she exclaimed, trying not to jump and drop the pie in surprise. “Are you heading out?”

“No,” he said, holding the screen door open for her. “I saw you making a pie and was hoping you were coming over here with it.”

“What would you have done if I wasn’t?” Aqua stepped inside, the familiar scent that carried through his house tinted with something a little sweeter today.

“Casually made my way to Zack and Aerith’s to make sure I got a slice of it too.” The door closed behind him while she continued to the kitchen so she could place the basket down.

“Stop, I would’ve given you a piece first.” Aqua didn’t quite make it to the kitchen because he took the basket from her. “Its hot be careful.”

“Funny you came by actually,” he said, placing the basket on the counter. It was only then she realized his oven was on. He grabbed some oven mitts and reached in to pull out what looked like the base of a cake. She peered over to see the golden spouge cake with dots of chocolate chips baked throughout. “If you want to wait for it to cool, I made some cream cheese frosting.”

Aqua liked her pie, she did, but she made it with Terra in mind meaning it had way more spice than sweet. This though, this nearly had her mouth watering. “That sounds like everything you’d hate.”

“True,” he snorted, flipping the pan over so he could drop the cake onto a plate to cool. “That’s why I made it for you not me.”

She blinked at him which seemed to be amusing because he laughed.

“Why are you surprised?”

Aqua didn’t have a good answer for that. Her heart that leapt up to her throat wanted to tell her that he made her a cake for the same reason that she made him a pie, but the more reasonable part of her mind reminded her they made each other food fairly often. “Because I know you wouldn’t have taste tested it,” she settled on instead. “How do I know its any good.”

“Are you doubting me?”

“No,” she said, unable to keep the laughter from bubbling up in her. “Everything you make is good.”

Now he looked surprised, like he was expecting her to tease him more and not give him a genuine compliment. If he thought any more of it she didn’t see since he turned his back to her to grab some mugs. “Want some cider while we wait?”

“You don’t even have to ask.”

His smile made her heart leap back into her throat. Terra quietly poured them some cider off the stove which made her wonder if he really thought she was coming over to be able to prep something to drink or he was just drinking a lot of cider alone. It was probably the latter; she really should stop getting her hopes up it was something more.

He passed her the steaming mug, gesturing to the couch. Aqua took the suggestion and blew on the steam as she walked over to sit down. Terra took a little bit longer but noticed it was because he had his mug and a plate with a slice of her pie on it.

“Not fair, you didn’t wait for me,” she said, shifting on the couch to kick her feet up in between them. She kept her knees up to her chest though as to not take up the whole space.

“Oh, no,” he said, leaning forward to place his mug on the coffee table. “Not my fault you can eat pie hot but not cake. You’re the one who likes the sweets.”

Aqua watched as he took a bite, his face melting into an expression of delight that made her hide her giggle behind her mug.

He took another scoop with his fork but this time he held it out to her. “Wanna try your handy work? Promise it’s amazing.”

Terra’s words alone had her leaning towards him but even with his hand extended she still couldn’t reach him. She carefully kicked her legs over his lap to scooch close enough so she could take the bite off the fork. Even though it wasn’t nearly as sweet as she liked it, the pie did melt in her mouth as it should.

“I’m glad you like it,” she said, leaning back.

“I do, very much, thank you, Aqua.”

He didn’t acknowledge that she left her legs on his lap and neither did she.

Winter

Aqua still loved the snow, but she hated the cold; that would never change no matter how much time went by. The blizzard outside was swirling around her window, skies dark but the snow still somehow bright. She had the blanket tight around her pajamas, trying to keep in all the warmth as she shuffled across her floor to reach the thermostat. She could turn it up a little more, what harm could it do.

“Don’t even think about raising the heat any more in here.”

Aqua yelped in surprise, thinking she was quiet enough but when she leaned back into the living room Terra was pointing a spatula at her from the kitchen. He looked about the opposite of her, tank top and thin pajama pants and the sight still made her grin.

“I’m roasting in here, you lizard.”

She chuckled as she went back to the couch, the TV playing lightly in the background. “Not all of us are from the arctic, Ter.”

He snorted before turning back to whatever he was making them for dinner. She was about to go over and help him, or thoroughly distract him she wasn’t sure yet, when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see the cutest Christmas portrait of Aerith in her favorite red dress, also not looking like she had a baby anywhere in the past twenty years let alone one year, and Zack holding their son up on his shoulders, both with equal expressions of glee.

Was this before or after he threw up all over Zack?

Terra was setting an alarm on the oven, footsteps padding over to the couch.

Aerith:

Before, everyone was significantly happier in this shot

Aqua chuckled at that mental image.

You two wanted a baby

Terra sat down with his back to the arm rest, a small sigh falling from his lips. Aqua quickly took the invitation, leaning her back against his chest to be nestled in between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple as she held up her phone.

“Aren’t they cute?” she asked.

“The cutest,” Terra agreed, nodding his chin to let her know there was a new message.

Aerith

Why do you say it in past tense ;3

“I’m not touching that one,” Aqua said, dropping her phone into her lap.

He laughed, his breath near her ear and his arms around her already making the cold vanish from her body. “You know they’re the type to have a big family.” He paused. “And you’re the type to continuously take babysitting duty.”

“Ah, guilty,” she chuckled, closing her eyes.

“Well, as long as they’re happy.”

Aqua opened her eyes so she could tilt her head to his. “Are you happy?”

He looked confused for a moment, like he wasn’t sure why she was asking him that but it quickly melted to that smile she loved so much. Once she used to make excuses just to see, but now she got to see it every morning when she woke up.

“Course I am,” he said. “Even if I feel like I’m the chestnut roasting over the open fire.”

Aqua laughed, which only got worse when he placed his hands on her waist, wiggling his fingers against her. He was strong and kept a grip on her even when she thrashed around in her laughter.

What was it like when she didn’t know him? When he was just the cute boy next door? Aqua didn’t know. She didn’t care to remember.

Terra stopped, though he was chuckling as he put his arms around her to pull her back against his chest. She sighed through her remaining giggles, closing her eyes with a content hum, one he echoed back at her.

One year, 12 months, 4 seasons, changed her life so drastically. It was hard not to wonder where another year would bring her and now them.

She glanced down when her phone buzzed again.

Aerith

Don’t ignore me like that when I drop such juicy information

Aqua rolled her eyes while Terra reached to turn up the volume, changing the channel to find something better to watch. At least she knew she probably go to another baby shower, though this time, she thought with a grin, Terra would come inside with her.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts fanfic #terraqua week #kingdom hearts terra #kingdom hearts aqua #modernaukh #my fics:kh

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lyssala · 5 years

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Future Masters

Paring: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Pre-Birth By Sleep; Terra is 16, Aqua is 14

Rating: K

Notes: A little snapshot of younger years <3 When I thought of future masters I thought of some young idealistic teenagers dreaming of the day they'd share their dreams together.

“Wait, Terra,” Aqua breathed from somewhere behind him. “Slow down a little.”

He would’ve if he hadn’t heard the amusement in her voice telling him she was more surprised than actually tired. Instead, he just held onto her hand tighter, pulling her up the familiar mountain path. Okay, he couldn’t really blame her. He was sort of the one who bounded into the library, dragging her away from her studying and outside with no explanation despite her pleas to tell her what was going on.

It rained for about a week meaning they had to wait at least another week before trekking up the hiking paths they knew so well. It also meant he didn’t know the path quite as well since heavy rain would dislodge new rocks, show new roots, make parts of the path wider, make some paths impassible. Maybe that’s why he liked coming up after the rain, it was like a new adventure.

Terra also knew Aqua liked it too or she would’ve dug her heels in the ground and refused to move; something she pulled a lot when they were younger and she thought Terra had a bad idea. In her defense he usually had bad idea as a kid that normally got them in trouble but he liked to think at sixteen he was a little bit better at it. Also now he was strong enough to just pick her up and take her with him if he wanted; something she pretended she didn’t like when he did it but her laughter gave her away every time.

“Terra!” That was a little exasperated but he could almost hear the smile on her lips so he knew he could push it a little further before she got really mad at him.

“C’mon, c’mon,” he said, tugging her around a rock that fell in the path and hoping she noticed him jump over a loose branch; she did.

“What are you so excited about?”

He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised she saw through him. While it wasn’t the first time he dragged her off on an adventure with no warning, there was no one who new him better than Aqua did. She knew him better than even Master did, of course she’d know when Terra was in a good mood even if he tried not to show it.

“You’ll see,” he said instead, bounding around a corner that sent some nearby birds flying up into the morning sky.

“I’ll see,” she snorted, still sounding breathless though he knew she could probably out run him if she tried. “What? The top of the mountain. I know that.”

“Sure.”

That one got him a swat to his arm. “You’re being so cryptic.”

“Yep.”

“Terra.” There was a whine in his name that time that made him grin even if he couldn’t see her.

“You’re supposed to the patient one.”

“I think we all know…” she paused to jump over something in the trail. “You’re the patient one not me.”

“I know, I was just being nice.”

“I’m going to push you off this mountain.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Oh, you just watch me.”

The trailed evened out, and the trees started to clear leading to the opening towards the top of the mountain. It wasn’t quite the top since that path continued up farther and was more dangerous. Master still only let them go up there when he was with them and only for physical endurance training, otherwise they were free to come to this clearing whenever they wanted. They did, especially whenever they wanted to talk without risk of anyone over hearing them.

Terra let go of her hand, ignoring how sweaty his probably was from dragging her from the castle all the way up the mountain, so he could walk over the edge. It was still fairly early in the morning, the clouds slightly orange from the sunrise. The cliff edge scared him when he was a kid, still thinking he’d fall if he got too close to it even if Master Eraqus was there. Now Terra could bring his toes to the cliff, looking down at the vast forests and rocky cliffs that surrounded the castle and fields down below.

“Are you finally going to tell me what was so important?”

Yeah, she was the impatient one for sure. He felt her walk up next to him, toes up to the edge too as her shoulder brushed up against his arm. It was strange though, she was the same height as him for as long as he could remember; today he noticed he had to look down at her to meet her eyes. In any regard, she was never afraid of heights. She was fearless in that regard, though it was another story when she screamed at a bug crawling up her leg during a hike.

Terra took a few (large) steps backward just to be safe, Aqua following him with her eyes. “I overheard something this morning.”

She crossed her arms but she couldn’t hide the curiosity in her eyes. “Overheard or eavesdropped?”

“Overhead,” he huffed.

Aqua arched her eyebrows.

“Its questionable. Regardless, I heard Master talking about something.”

She dropped all façade of chastising him because like he assumed, she wanted to know. “About what?”

“About us,” he said, crossing his arms to mimic her position.

“Oh, you are driving me crazy this morning.” She reached out to grab onto his arm, shaking him and making him laugh. “What are you keeping from me?”

“Okay, okay,” he said, reaching his hands down to place on her shoulders so she’d stop. “I heard Master say he’s going to start preparing us for the Mark of Mastery exam.”

Aqua blinked at him. “You’re lying.”

He laughed again, this time though because he felt the excitement he kept contained since when he first heard the conversation. “Why would I lie about this?”

“You’re serious?”

“I’m serious.”

Aqua let out almost a shriek of joy as she reached up to throw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, picking her right up off the ground.

“I can’t believe it,” she gasped, giving him a squeeze before kicking her legs some, a signal she wanted to be put down.

Terra let her go so she could jump back to the ground, though the wind seemed to cut through him a little more with her backing away from him. She spun around; the skirts of her outfit spinning out and catching the sunlight that made them look really befitting her name.

“I mean,” she said, looking back to him. “Its to be expected as this is what we’ve been working for but we’re still so young! The youngest right?”

“We could be,” he shrugged, unable to keep a grin off his face as he watched hers absolutely glow. “To be fair it’ll probably still be a while before we can take the test but-”

“But talking about it means preparing for it,” she cut him off, taking the words literally out of his mouth. Not that he was surprised, he did say she knew him best. “And that means its in the near future.”

“Absolutely,” he said.

“It means we’ve been doing so good with our training.”

For the first time Terra felt himself falter. Sure he trained and he studied and he tried so hard to achieve what he wanted but Aqua…she was the faster learner and he knew it. Maybe Master was only talking about her and not him.

“Terra?”

He blinked and she was standing in front of him again, forehead furrowed as she watched him. “Hmm?”

“You looked really sad for a moment.” She paused to let him speak but cut him off before he could. “And don’t try and tell me it was nothing, I know it wasn’t.”

“It was nothing,” he said shaking his head. “Just a…dumb thought.”

She didn’t look like she believed him, considering he didn’t even believe himself he couldn’t blame her. Still, she put a smile back on. “What are you gonna do when you’re a master?”

Terra had to grin again, it was almost impossible not to when she looked at him like there was no where else she wanted to be but on this mountain top with him. “See the worlds.”

“You can do that without being a master,” she tutted, walking backwards from him again. “Tell me what you really want to do.”

It wasn’t like they hadn’t been talking about this since they were kids, since they would lay under the stars and dream aloud until they fell asleep. Terra knew what she was doing though and he was more than happy to push the knots from his stomach to humor her; which was what she wanted.

“Take care of the worlds,” he said instead.

“Yeah,” she hummed, jumping up to sit on a nearby boulder. “Keep the peace, make people happy.”

“See the worlds,” he said again, starting to walk towards her. “Without a chaperone.”

“Risky,” Aqua teased. “Sure you’ll be okay?”

He snorted. “Of course but that doesn’t mean I’d always go alone.”

“Oh? Gonna take Master out with you as a treat to him?”

“I’d take you, dummy.” He reached up to flick her on the nose, making her laugh as she swatted his hand away.

“Me? Sure you wouldn’t get sick of me?”

“Well, when you put it like that.”

She tried to kick him but he ducked out of the way, moving to lean up against the rock next to her. The sun was rising higher in the blue sky. It was going to get warm soon and Master would probably notice they were missing. Who was Terra kidding, Master Eraqus probably already knew.

“I wouldn’t get sick of you,” Terra said. “Why wouldn’t I want to see the worlds with you?”

Aqua shrugged but when he glanced over she was grinning down at her fingers in her lap. He wasn’t sure why it made him feel a warmth in his chest but it did; he liked to see her happy.

“Would you get sick of me?” he asked.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I think I’d be lonely without you, like I was lonely before I came to live here.”

“Me too.” In fact, Terra didn’t even remember a time before Aqua; it was like she was always here. He didn’t want to imagine a world where she wasn’t there with him.

“Okay,” she said, sticking her hand out to him, pinky extended. “Promise we’ll become masters together and travel all the worlds together.”

“What if I start to get sick of you before we’re masters?”

She kicked him again but it was lacking any force.

“I’m kidding relax.” He stuck his finger out, wrap it around hers before she pulled away; sealing their promise like they did since they were kids. “Well, do it together, just like always.”

“Always,” she repeated.

“Where would we go first?”

“Some place with a beach.”

“Oh, yeah, peace keeping is always most helpful at the beach where you can go swimming and not do any work.”

She laughed and it sort of reminded him of bells almost, bright and clear, something he didn’t want to forget. “We keep the peace and then we go swimming.”

“I can get behind that.”

“Who said being a master was hard work.”

“I do hope that’s not a critique on my methods.”

Terra nearly jumped at the sudden but familiar voice, where Aqua did jump, losing her balance on the rock. As on instinct, Terra reached out to catch her before she fell, letting her feet hit the ground before her face.

“Master,” she gasped, quickly straightening herself up. “How did you know we were here?”

Despite the early morning, Master Eraqus looked as at ease and calm as he always did, complete with smile under his mustache to let his students know he wasn’t mad they snuck off. He pointed back to the trail. “You didn’t go that great of a job hiding your tracks today.”

That was…fair. Terra hadn’t exactly been thinking about that as he was running up the mountain with Aqua in tow.

“We were just…” he started, trying to find a good way to put it. He used to just say they wanted to be alone but somehow that phrase stuck a sharp bolt of embarrassment through him instead.

“Watching the sunrise,” Aqua finished.

Master Eraqus nodded though Terra didn’t quite think the older man believed them. Not that it was a big deal, him and Aqua were always together, and them being alone together was no big deal. They were best friends, nothing wrong with that.

“Well, I was concerned when you both ran off before breakfast even.”

Aqua glanced over to Terra, her eyes clearly noting the flaw in his excited plan to sneak away to talk.

“Well, after the hike I’m hungry now,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

Eraqus eyed them for a moment, before he nodded, gesturing back down. “You should probably get back down before it gets cold then.”

The thought of cold eggs made Terra’s stomach turn, but Aqua merely shrugged, brushing by him to lead the way. He went to follow, at least going down was easier than going up, but Eraqus chuckled. Not that it was uncommon but something struck him about it enough to turn back around.

“What’s funny?” he asked, trying not to sound too curious or too accusatory.

“I can’t remember the last time you woke up early enough to watch the sunset. Maybe when you were ten.”

Terra shrugged, though Master was absolutely right. Even this morning the sun was already rising when Terra rolled out of bed. “Aqua likes it,” he said, which wasn’t a lie; she could get up in time for the sunrise but she didn’t like coming up the mountain alone that early.

Eraqus hummed as he walked past Terra, Aqua still hopping happily down the path in front of them. “The next time you’d like to talk to her, my boy, you don’t have to drag yourselves all the way up the mountain.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” Though Terra already felt his face starting to heat up because he didn’t know which was more embarrassing; the fact Master might know that Terra over heard the conversation or that he brought Aqua all the way up here just to talk to her alone. Granted, both were true so both were pretty bad.

“There’s places close by I don’t have my ear on should you find them.”

Terra really wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean but he found it hard to find his footing through some soft dirt after that.

“Terra!” Aqua called from farther down as she waved her arms over her head. “Race you down! Loser has to eat all the cold eggs!”

“Gross,” he said, and even though his face still felt way too warm not to be noticeable it was hard not to smile. “Only if you don’t get a head start, that’s cheating.”

She giggled but she nodded, pausing to wait for him.

“Don’t worry to grow up too fast, Terra,” Eraqus said. Even though it was almost a call out that he knew what Terra overheard, it wasn’t accusatory. It was almost…sad in a way but why he had no idea. “It’s inevitable, so remember to savor these moments too.”

He wasn’t even sure how to respond so he merely nodded.

“Hurry up, slow poke!”

“Will you relax,” Terra said, rolling his eyes. “I’m coming.” He waited till he was closer to her before he broke out in a run, racing by her as she scrambled to catch up.

“You are such a cheater. I’m going to get you for that!” she breathed as she raced up behind him.

He focused on the path, remembering what he saw when he came up to make sure that he didn’t trip or have to slow down but it was impossible not to feel Aqua running next to him. Her strides were shorter than his but she was still quick, keeping up at every turn. Despite the desire to win and not eat gross eggs, he had a warm feeling in his stomach knowing she was with him every step of the way. It once was a bitter competition when they were kids and not used to how each other operated, but now it was different. It was fun.

As much as he wanted the freedom and responsibility to be a master, he also knew Eraqus was right. This was its own sort of freedom, and it was better with her.

#terraqua #terraqua week #kingdom hearts fanfic #kingdom hearts aqua #kingdom hearts terra #my fics:kh #canonversekh

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lyssala · 5 years

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Day 7 - Flower Shop

Paring: Terra/Aqua & Zack/Aerith, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Modern Setting; Recently post college age

Rating: K+

Words: 10654

Notes: I actually really love this one. I had a lot of fun playing with flower meanings and also just had so much fun with their dynamic in this fic! Flower Shop is one of those cliché tropes so I had to give it to the babes hahaha Also I wrote this fic a bit ago and only recently played Crisis Core, so I’m currently thanking my past self for giving my current self some sweet Zack and Aerith fluff when I need it more LMAO

As always @mimiplaysgames is the best, who pinpointed a weakness in the storyline effectively and helped me make the whole thing stronger and who always, always encourages me. Seriously, you guys wouldn’t have read this far without her cause I wouldn’t have written this far without her. I hope you all know how much I appreciate her and how honored I am to work with her, because you’re gonna know for the next twenty or so chapters too <3 <3

AO3

My Heart Was Wrapped up in Clovers

Inspired By: Call Me Irresponsible (Michael Bublé), At Last (Etta James), Save the Dance for Me (Michael Bublé)

If there was one nice thing about working in a florist’s shop, it was that everything smelt beautiful. Those sweet and fresh aromas of flowers in their peak never got old to Aqua. The small store was always bright and colorful between the flowers out on display for people to create their own arraignments, the premade bouquets wrapped up waiting to be given to a loved one, the baskets with greenery poking up hanging over from hooks in the ceiling, the coolers surrounded by even more greenery which sat off to the side waiting for their owners to pick up custom orders; everything bright and beautiful. Sometimes it was even a little hard to navigate between the wooden tables and crates all around the room, overflowing with any type of floral display you could want. But if the Gainsborough’s knew anything, it was flowers.

Aqua hummed as she leaned over the main counter, fingers fiddling with wrapping some twine around a wire. Despite being the beginning of spring season, which also meant the beginning of prom and wedding seasons, it was a fairly slow morning. She reached down to grab one of the single flowers she spread out in front of her, snipping the stem low enough so it would sit on the wire crown well enough. Usually the shop only made flower crowns as custom orders, as there was no way to keep the flowers from wilting but she had happened to walk by the discarded flower bin this morning to see some beautiful blues and whites to be thrown away. What could she say? She was inspired.

Also it was ten in the morning and she only had two customers for the past three hours.

She wrapped the stem with some floral tape before covering it with more twine to match the sections of the crown she finished; which wasn’t much, but it was tedious process. She figured she could wear it till it wilted and promote their services to any customers. It also made time go by while Aerith was busy filling an order in the backroom.

While it was still a job, and it was customer service which was frustrating at times (she was also sure she had permanent scars from thorns, missed scissor cuts, and wrapping paper), it was still a place she enjoyed working. She loved taking care of their flowers, being able to create, and making so many people’s every day or special occasions beautiful, both the exciting ones and the sad ones. It was rewarding in its own way.

She snipped another stem, adding it next to the blue one she already used to make the color more vibrant. Aqua admittedly wasn’t a master at arraignments like Aerith and her mother, were but they often told Aqua she had a good eye so she’d take it. She was learning a trade most people didn’t even know they needed until the time demanded it.

The bell rang, making her look up from tying the twine. Sometimes it was just people coming in to look around, sometimes people who knew exactly what they wanted and sometimes, a lot of times, it was confused looking men and women who had no idea what sort of flowers they needed for their occasion.

“Good morning, Cloud,” she said with a smile, placing the crown down on the counter.

The blond wasn’t exactly a regular to buy flowers, but he was Aerith’s fiancé’s best friend so Aqua knew him fairly well now in the least. Judging by the looking in his eyes, he was falling in the last category of customers today.

“How can I help you?”

He hesitated, blue eyes darting around the room as he approached the counter. “I need flowers,” he said blandly, like there was any other reason he’d come to a florist but that was Cloud.

“Well, lucky for you we have them,” she chuckled but his expression didn’t change. Okay, apparently not in a joking mood today. “What’s the occasion?”

Cloud reached a hand up to the back of his neck, looking either embarrassed or nervous, Aqua couldn’t quite tell. “Do you have flowers for telling your pregnant wife sorry for making her cry when you accidentally bought strawberry ice cream when she asked for chocolate chip cookie dough?”

Aqua tried to cover her mouth to hide the snort of laughter but considering Cloud didn’t look all that reassured she figured she didn’t do a good job. “I know I work here, but you realize you can just buy Tifa the right ice cream right?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, dropping his hands to his sides almost in defeat. “I’m going to but she cried almost all night and I felt…really bad.”

“I got it,” she said, moving away from the counter. Tifa and Aerith were close friends so Aqua knew the black haired woman well enough to know she was always smiling, always calm. “We just got these in,” Aqua said, reaching to one of the vases full of bright, yellow flowers.

“Sunflower,” Cloud said in acknowledgement.

Aqua nodded, holding the stem so she could brush by the soft pedals. “One of its meanings is adoration, which is clearly how you feel if you’re picking her a flower over ice cream, but it’s also almost impossible not to think of the sun and warm summer days. I bet it’ll make her smile.”

He thought for a moment but nodded. “Okay, yeah, I like it.”

“Good,” she said with a smile. He was a friend sure, but she always liked when customers actually liked her suggestions. “Just the one or would you like me to make a bouquet for her?”

“A bouquet if you don’t mind,” he said.

“Not at all.” She turned to gather a few more of the flowers; they were already fairly large so she didn’t need too many. Aqua moved back to the counter to go through the steps of trimming, tying, wrapping in matching colors before shifting to ring Cloud up.

After a few beeps she passed him the flowers which he delicately took like it was precious cargo (he was going to be a good dad). “Thanks, Aqua,” he said, his own unique smile on his face as he started to leave.

“My pleasure. Let me know how she likes it!”

He turned to wave before heading to the door.

“Get the right ice cream this time too!”

If Cloud heard her, he ignored her.

Aqua chuckled to herself as she picked her flower crown back up. Maybe she should go check on Aerith; she was probably fine, just absorbed in her creative process. She was creating samples to show a bride and Aqua very well knew depending on the bride it could go very well or very bad. Aerith was probably making some backups just in case.

Aqua barely got another flower taped onto the wire before the bell dinged again. Well, at least if it got busy, time would go by a little faster. She looked up, ready to greet her next costumer but instead she saw the familiar shade of a white apron, some casualties of the kitchen smeared across it. Usual black pants and white shirt were under it, hands fiddling near the apron pocket, blue eyes glancing around the room and messy hair that was free of a hair net which also wasn’t unusual as she knew he hated it.

“Terra Hale,” she said with a smile, ignoring the sudden flip in her stomach at seeing him walk into the store. It wasn’t terribly uncommon as he only worked next door but at the same time she hadn’t been expecting to see him this early. She didn’t put her crown down as she started wrapping more of the twine. “Are you sneaking off from work?”

Terra raised a hand to his chest, pointing his finger at himself. “Me? I don’t know how you could ever think that.”

“Because it’s about to be lunch rush at the restaurant and you should be there prepping but you’re standing in my flower shop instead.”

He shrugged, stopping at the counter as he placed his hands up on the surface. “I am here on business.”

“What kind of business would that be?”

He tapped his fingers on the counter. “You haven’t put in a lunch order yet. If you wait too long it’ll take forever for us to get to it.”

Aqua hummed as she grabbed another flower, cutting the stem before looking back up at him. “Maybe I was eating lunch somewhere else today.”

“Were you?”

It was hard to tell when he smiled at first. Aqua never even really noticed the first few times he delivered when she started working here, as he always seemed stone faced, intimidating in a way; though that could’ve been due to his height and stature too. The more she saw him though, the more she saw the way his smile would pull at the sides of his lips when he said hello or goodbye, when he’d let her know which order was which, and eventually when he’d delay going back to work to talk to her like now.

“Maybe,” she said, looking back down so she could tape the flower in place. “I hear that McDonalds down the street is superb.”

“Are you seriously comparing freshly prepared and cooked meals to…” Terra paused for a second, arching his eyebrow. “McDonalds?”

She probably could’ve teased him a little longer, but the laughter that bubbled up uncontrollably gave her away. “Okay, fair, you guys do have the best food in town.”

He propped his elbow up on the counter, leaning over to put his chin in his hand. It was a fairly wide countertop so it could be used as a work area; he wasn’t even really in her space but she still started to find it a little hard to breathe. Even more so when a bigger smile pulled at his lips, which she found was her favorite to see. It was harder to come by with him, but when he did it lit up his whole face, especially his eyes and the dimples on his cheeks were easier to see.

She glanced down at the crown in her hands, seeing she completely wound the twine wrong. Luckily no one else was in the store because he was sort of a distraction every time he stopped by. Aqua went to quickly undo what she had done, hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“I can’t promise our French fries aren’t quite as addicting,” he said, though he rolled his eyes slightly. “But I’ll make you whatever you want.”

“I don’t have a menu handy,” she said, trying to focus on the crown again, mainly so she could keep some sense of herself and not turn into a giggling teenage girl when she was much older than that. “Tell me what’s good today.”

“Doesn’t really matter,” he shrugged. “I can make you something that’s not on the menu too.”

“Really? Can you do that?” Aqua trimmed the next flower stem as she spoke but she was genuinely curious. Working in a restaurant wasn’t something she ever did, and she never really thought about if cooks could make things off the menu.

“Sure,” he said, smile still on his lips which was highly distracting. “As long as we have the ingredients and I know how to make it, doesn’t matter too much if it’s on the menu or not.”

“Would you get in trouble?”

“No,” Terra snorted. “No one would care. Besides the boss is off catering a party today. Even if he would care, which he wouldn’t, he likes you.”

The menu was just fine really; they honestly did have great food. The restaurant was in Cid’s family for a long time, they had the recipes down to perfection. At the same time though, the thought of having something special made for her made her chest feel light and also made her stomach growl a little.

“In that case then…” She paused, trying to think of something she never had there before. “Grilled cheese.”

“I give you a run of the kitchen, and you ask for grilled cheese?”

“Like fancy grilled cheese, not just cheese on it.”

He laughed, using his hand to gesture for her to go on. “Like…”

“I don’t know,” she said, a smile pulling at her lips. “You’re the chef, you decide.”

He arched his eyebrows but it seemed more in amusement than anything. “You sure?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, carefully ripping the floral tape so she didn’t mess it up again while he was watching her. “You know what I like, I trust you.”

“Alright, I’ll bring it over when it’s done. Tell Aerith I’ll bring her usual too.”

“Will do,” she said, adding the twine over the tape. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it, she’s been working in the back room since opening.”

Terra glanced down at the flowers she was working with, like he hadn’t noticed it before. “That’ll be pretty.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said with a shrug. “Found them lying around in the discard pile, and I thought I’d give them a new life.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment but reached down to pick up one of the lighter blue flowers. “Try this one next?”

It was obvious he was a little unsure if that was the right thing to say but it was sweet, and pretty cute. “I think so too,” she said, reaching out to take the flower from him. “You’ve got a good eye, too. You wanna work here part time?”

Terra snorted as he pushed himself off the counter. “I’ll leave that to you. See you in a little bit.”

“Bye,” she said, waving slightly as he turned to wave back before heading out the door, the bell dinging and leaving her in silence once more. Aqua sighed as she reached up to touch the petals of the flower he handed her. It was pretty; it would make a nice next addition.

“Can you two please just get a room?”

Aqua fumbled the flower in surprise, reaching to grab it before it hit the counter. She quickly turned to see Aerith spraying some water on some of the hanging plants by the back door.

“Aerith,” Aqua breathed. “When did you finish the bouquets?” Which sounded better than “how long have you been standing there?”.

Aerith turned her head, a usual knowing smile on her lips. “A few minutes ago, not that either of you noticed.”

“He just came by to ask what we wanted for lunch,” Aqua said, trimming the stem down of the flower she still had in her hand.

“Yes, because that’s exactly what it looked like.”

Aqua decided that didn’t need a response as she wrapped the flower in floral tape, the only other sounds in the store being the light music, the chimes blowing in the wind outside, and Aerith’s water bottle as she moved to the next plant. Aqua grabbed the twine, wrapping over the tape; she was almost halfway done now at least.

“How did the bouquets go?” she asked, a relevant way to change the topic.

“Oh, very well, at least I think so. We’ll see what kind of bride she is when she comes in later today.”

“You’re perfect with wedding arraignments, I’m sure it’ll be just fine.”

Aerith hummed as she turned her head back to Aqua. “Tell that to the one girl who threw the flowers back at my head.”

“That did not happen,” Aqua laughed, grabbing another white flower to add to her other one.

“Oh, believe me, it did.” Aerith delicately moved a few leaves on one of the nearby plants. “People can get crazy about their wedding day.”

“Not you though, I’m sure.”

“I don’t need to be,” she chuckled. “I’ve got all my flowers because I can do it here, catering deal next door, my grandma is doing alterations on my dress, most laid back fiancé there ever has been. Easy, peasy.”

“You promise you won’t throw flowers at me then?”

“I trust you to help me with my flowers just fine, so no, I won’t,” Aerith said with a laugh.

Aqua smiled as she grabbed another flower to trim. “That was actually so sweet.”

“What about you? Ever want to get married?” Aerith was near the front of the store now, but it was such a small space it wasn’t hard to hear or see her.

“Someday probably.” Aqua carefully wrapped more floral tape. “If I ever meet the right person.”

“Huh, funny.”

“What is it?” She didn’t bother to look up as she worked on more twine. How much time had gone by?

“I happen to know a nice guy. Cute, kind, pretty eyes, good with his hands, even better with food, works next door.”

Aqua glanced up to see Aerith grinning as she sprayed the plants up front.

“What? Did you really think I was going to let it go easily?”

“I should’ve known better honestly.”

“That you should’ve.” Aerith seemed like she was about to say something else but the bell rang over the door. She turned to greet the customers and Aqua breathed a small sigh of relief as she focused herself back on the crown; if Aerith needed help she’d say, but she usually didn’t.

It wasn’t like Aqua didn’t know. She didn’t need to be teased like she was in middle school to know when she had feelings for someone. She was even fairly sure her feelings were reciprocated but at the same time that’s what scared her. It was a fairly…long time since she was in a relationship with anyone; she usually kept herself too busy for anything like it even if she missed the companionship sometimes. So here was this kind, attractive guy who gave her special treatment at the restaurant and gave her rides home sometimes, and was really cute, did she mention that already? And she didn’t know what to do.

She’d be lying if she said she never thought about it before; especially after long days, finally being able to sit down in his car, listening to the low hum of his voice against the radio, wondering how it would feel if she just asked him to stay for a little bit. At the same time she also couldn’t shake the fact of what would happen if something went wrong. They didn’t work at the same place but because of a partnership Aerith’s mom had with Cid, people who catered and bought flowers from both places got a deal. They often ended up at events together setting up. Aqua would never want to have awkward feelings with him or anyone else on either staff. Well, that was if something went wrong. It could otherwise be perfect, wonderful, everything she wanted.

But she had rushed in before.

Aqua could be a romantic, she knew it; she tried to be a rational person at all times but there was something about the romance of things she just fell for. She enjoyed working with flowers because of the language they spoke, what they could tell people without words. She liked Terra because he was so sweet. He gave her special treatment at the restaurant, and his dimples showed when he smiled. Yet she also liked her ex because he knew how to lace words together in the most charming way, until that went all wrong. She also liked her ex before that because he surprised her with gifts and dinners and treats, until that went all wrong. She even liked her high school boyfriend because he was the only one who gave her chocolate on Valentine’s Day, and that went really wrong. The charm, the romance, she fell for it and so far it hadn’t worked out so great. Still, it also didn’t feel right to punish her feelings and potentially Terra’s feelings for things a bunch of guys who probably weren’t right for her anyways did ages ago.

So the circle started over again. Overthinking things was sort of her specialty.

She sighed as she tried to keep her focus on the flowers in her hands instead. It was easy here at least, surrounded by such beauty all the time. It was hard not to feel at peace here, even if customers weren’t always kind about suggestions, or apparently throw flowers at your head. Most of the time, like earlier with Cloud, she got the chance to brighten someone’s day and that made her feel a lot better about just about everything.

Aqua wasn’t quite sure how much time went by until she finished the crown since after she rang up Aerith’s customers. The bride came in with her maid of honor to see the flowers and Aerith took them in the back. It couldn’t have been too long, but Aqua still felt some pride as she dropped the completed piece on her head. She peeked in the nearby mirror they kept up and was glad to see it seemed to look pretty good too. There, she wasted nothing and could promote their products at the same time.

The bell rang.

She moved to greet the customer but the beautiful aroma of fresh food hit her first. Her stomach growled even just from the smell. “Oh, am I happy to see you again.”

“You know,” Terra snorted as he made his way up to the counter, white plastic bag in his hand. “I get that a lot.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

He placed the bag on the counter, which still had remnants of Aqua’s project on. “Top one is yours, bottom is Aerith’s, who has been busy since I haven’t seen her at all today.”

“Wedding clients,” Aqua said, reaching below for her purse.

Terra let out a low whistle. “It is that season isn’t it.”

“Yeah, ready for all those fancy event set ups?”

“Oh, yeah, love getting yelled at by the mother of the bride for placing the pasta too close to the macaroni and cheese.”

“Just wait till you have the maid of honor throw a fit that her flowers are saggy compared to the other bridesmaids. How much do I owe you?” Aqua asked, flipping open her wallet.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, gently tapping the top of the container. “On the house.”

“Terra,” she said. “Cid will probably kill you if you keep giving us free lunch.”

“I’ll just volunteer for the next wedding,” he shrugged, slowly walked backwards to the door. “But he will probably kill me if I’m not back soon, busy day.”

“Well, thank you,” she said, unable to bite back a smile.

“Hey,” he gestured to the top of his head. “Your crown came out nice, it’s really pretty.”

Aqua reached a hand up to her head, feeling the soft flowers. “I’ll make you one next, how’s that?”

“Sounds like a deal.” He waved as he pushed the door open with his back, disappearing beyond the store front.

She sighed again, but this time from contentment. She knew she would be lying if she didn’t say seeing him might be the highlight of her day. She was also really hungry. Aqua peeked in the box that had her custom meal in, and couldn’t hide her grin.

She didn’t even need to take a bite to know it was perfect.

Aqua didn’t admittedly see herself working for a florist when she graduated college, but jobs weren’t easy to come by in the least and between working in the shop, as well as working on location for parties and weddings, it paid enough for her to keep up with the bills. She’d take what she could get.

She ended up loving it more than she thought she would too. The atmosphere, the type of work, and of course the company too. Aerith and her mother was lovely people, neither of whom were pushovers in the least, as well as the part time employees who worked here too. They were mostly high school kids getting their first jobs, but they were a sweet group.

It was a slow day and it was getting slower by the second, the more times Aqua looked up at the clock overhead. Kairi was fixing a display in the storefront but otherwise it was quiet. Mrs. Gainsborough was running late coming back from on location consultation, and since Aqua had no plans unlike Aerith did tonight, Aqua offered to stay. Kairi was in the process of being trained to be a closer so Mrs. Gainsborough didn’t have to work every night. Kairi probably could’ve handled being alone for a little bit but Aqua didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable or to have something come up.

It wasn’t really a big deal, all she would do was go home to wear pajamas and binge TV shows till she fell asleep.

She tried not to yawn as she looked up at the clock again; it was just after five in the afternoon which was an hour after she usually left work. Slow days dragged enough as it was, let alone slow long days. Business was picking up but it was coming in spurts, at least until everyone realized spring was right around the corner and people started freaking out that they needed to get on their planning.

“How does this look?” Kairi asked taking a step back from her display.

“Very pretty,” Aqua said. “I love the colors you picked.”

“I thought it said ‘Don’t worry, spring is almost here. It’ll stop being so dreary and cold soon’.”

“I think you get your point across very well,” Aqua smiled. “I do hope you’re right. Someone should tell the weather that a little sunshine never hurt anyone.”

Kairi reached for the front pocket of her apron. “Is it okay if I take a picture of it?”

“Be my guest, it would be a shame not to show off your hard work.”

The redhead grinned as she pulled out her phone, backing up till she could get the whole display in.

The bell dinged and on reflex Aqua stopped slouching over the counter. She hoped it was the familiar face of Aerith’s mom but it was woman Aqua didn’t know, a customer. Kairi was already on it, slipping her phone away and moving to greet the woman happily.

Even though Aqua offered to stay she still felt the sting of disappointment that seemed to be following her every time the door opened today. All day, every ding of the bell made her happy only to be replaced with a sinking feeling when it wasn’t brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a white apron and always smelling like some sort of food. It was more than likely Terra’s day off; he was human, he needed them too. Or he was working a party and just wasn’t onsite at the restaurant. It’s not like she didn’t understand, she loved her days off, she bet he did too but it did make work drag so much longer when she didn’t see him.

Aqua contemplated asking Cid, who came in to give them lunch whenever Terra didn’t, but she figured Cid either would ask her why she cared or tell Terra the girl from the florist shop was being nosey; both those options seemed a little too embarrassing for her to go through with it. She wanted to validate herself and say there was nothing to be embarrassed about, her and Terra were friends, they saw each other almost every day for months now; okay so maybe the extent of hanging out when not at work was just the few minutes in his car but work friends in the least. Aqua knew there was nothing to justify though. Seeing him made the day so much better, it was simple as that.

The bell rang again but this time it was the customer leaving.

“Couldn’t help them?” Aqua asked as Kairi walked up to the counter.

“Actually, she said she really liked our set up and she wanted to come back when she had more time. She’s planning a birthday party for her mom. So I went over the basics with her.”

“Well done,” Aqua nodded. “I’m sure we’ll be getting busy again real soon.”

“Man, I hope so. It just drags when it’s slow,” Kairi sighed, sitting herself up on one of the stools set by the counter. Mrs. Gainsborough never minded if they sat down and talked as long as work was done and customers were treated first.

“Ain’t that the truth.”

Kairi sighed. “Any events we’re planning for?”

“Weddings and more weddings coming up soon, but in the upcoming weekends I think there’s an anniversary party we’ll be setting up for. Tifa’s baby shower even though she doesn’t know it. Prom will be here before you know it too.” Aqua paused looking over to the younger girl. “Do you have your dress yet?”

“Aqua,” Kairi whined slightly, face turning a little red.

“Why so embarrassed? It’s fun. You should see all the girls who come in here all excited to get a flower for their date.”

Kairi fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “No one’s asked me yet.”

“It’s barely March, you have plenty of time. Maybe that boy you like will, what’s his name again?”

“Aqua,” Kairi whined again but this time much more dramatically, holding her hands up to her face.

“Okay,” Aqua chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me.”

A flash of white near the door made Aqua nearly fall over in her effort to get a better look but it must’ve been just someone walking by. She tried not to make her sigh audible but it didn’t work since Kairi looked significantly less embarrassed.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Ah, nothing,” Aqua shook her head.

Kairi looked like she was going to say something but the bell over the door rang. Aqua looked over to greet the customer but to her surprise it was actually a familiar face.

“Hi, Lea,” Kairi said with a smile, though it quickly turned to a frown. “What’s wrong with you?”

The tall teenager wasn’t exactly a frequent costumer of flowers but he was a frequent friend of Roxas and Namine, two of the part time kids who worked in the afternoons, as well as Kairi; ironically enough, Roxas’ twin brother worked next door at the restaurant. Aqua was pretty sure they all went to school together. Lea wasn’t usually all smiles but he was pretty laid back and relaxed of a person so it was a little unusual to see such a scowl on his face.

He placed his hands on the counter, looking so strangely serious. “I need flowers to say fuck you in the most passive aggressive way possible.”

She blinked at him; that wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.

“Can you…can you do that with flowers?” Kairi asked, clearly as caught off guard but probably not terribly surprised either.

“Well, yes, you can,” Aqua said. “I can’t say it’s a common reason but it can be done. I’m not sure who did you wrong enough to get a passive aggressive flower message but follow me, we’ll find something.”

Kairi had her hand over her mouth as she was trying not to laugh, something Lea noticed as he reached up to gently push at her head.

Aqua had to run through meanings in her head as she looked over what they had, the somewhat strange request would take her mind away from today and make time go by faster for once. At least it was different than the same old red roses.

The bell barely dinged to let Aqua know she should turn from watering the plants and she already knew who it was.

“Hello, beautiful flower maidens, have you seen what a lovely day it is outside today?”

Aqua snorted as she looked over to Zack, his arms extended slightly like he was offering the world’s best news. “No, some of us have been stuck inside a building all day unlike you.”

Zack moved his hand up to his heart, cringing over dramatically. “Oh, Aqua, you wound me. Hey, I’ll let you have the rest of the day off. No worries, you deserve it.”

“You can’t do that,” Aerith said from the front counter where she was writing down orders, but now she just had her chin in her hand as she tapped the pen against the order book, a big grin on her lips. “You don’t even work here.”

He started to walk towards her. “Yeah, but the owner’s daughter is my wife so I think I can have some say.”

She hummed, dropping the pen so she could step away from the counter to where he was standing. “I think you have a little bit longer before you’re allowed to call me that, you know, until we actually get married.”

Zack waited till she was close enough before wrapping his arms around her, pulling her right off the ground which earned a cry of laughter from Aerith. “Or we could still go with my idea and just go to the courthouse so we don’t have to wait any longer.”

Aqua moved to the next section of plants. Aerith and Zack were always at an adorable level of cute; they gave those sweet feelings that come with seeing two people made for each other. It made Aqua glad to see that her friend was so very happy, but it always came with a small pain in her chest after. She supposed it was partly her fault, if she ever wanted to find a relationship like theirs she actually had to, you know, accept being in a relationship or take the first steps to start one herself.

Neither was exactly easy to do; even if she had thought about it…a lot over the past few months.

“I’d agree with you,” Aerith said. “If I hadn’t been in the flower business my whole life, and have been planning my wedding since I was six years old.”

“Touché,” Zack snorted. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll marry you any day, anywhere. Aqua’s my witness to it.”

She rolled her eyes but turned her head. He was putting Aerith back on the ground, placing a quick kiss to her lips. They really were sweet. Aqua went back the flowers in front of her as Aerith moved to her order sheet, Zack taking a seat on the stool in front of her. He was probably waiting for shift swap which was in…Aqua glanced up at the clock. Oh thank God, only ten minutes left.

She reached over to brush aside some leaves to get closer to the roots. She could hear Zack talking to Aerith but about what, Aqua couldn’t tell.

She supposed maybe risks were worth taking if there was happiness like theirs at the end of it, that wondering and day dreaming really did nothing if she couldn’t put action behind it. It was just like every time she told herself today would be the day she’d say something. But she froze and let a whole day go by without doing anything. Aqua knew what made her nervous because what if Terra said no…or almost just as scary, what if he said yes? She’d be right on the track she knew so well, but that track always ended poorly and that…that she absolutely didn’t want with him. She knew it didn’t have to end the same way, that Terra wasn’t anyone who had broken her heart before, but she found that first leap to be much harder than she ever expected it to be until she was face to face with someone like him.

The alternative, of course, was working in this shop and seeing him almost every day as they did with her trying to hide how much more she wanted it to be; relatively hiding because anyone who did know never seemed to be all too surprised. Granted, she must’ve done an okay job because he didn’t take any steps farther either. Maybe he was afraid of the same things she was or maybe he really wasn’t interested.

Aqua sighed as she crouched down to get some of the plants on the floor. Wouldn’t it be nice to just turn off her brain for even a little bit of time? All she really knew was she was pretty sure she’d be devastated if he ever stopped coming to see her, or if he came in with another girl to buy flowers for. Aqua knew that was telling in itself and she should just do anything instead of wondering for all of eternity what could’ve been; that she let her fear of the past hold her back from the future. Could she live with that?

The bell rang near her but she was a little tangled in the plants to greet them.

“Hey, man!” Zack exclaimed.

Aqua knew what she should do, yeah, but while it was easy to know, it was harder to actually do something about it.

“Welcome to the Gainsborough Flower Emporium,” he continued grandly, even though that wasn’t even remotely the name of the shop. “Bet we can help you find any sort of flower for any object of your affection. May I suggest blue roses?”

“I’m fine, Zack,” Terra said and Aqua promptly felt the watering can slip from her hands.

It clanged to the ground, making more noise than actually spilling water. She quickly reached to grab it and try and get the heat to leave her face before she stood up. It didn’t seem to work very well.

“Are you okay?” Terra asked, leaning around one of the plant displays to see her better. He didn’t look like he was about to laugh or anything, but Aerith was absolutely doing a bad job hiding hers.

“Ah, yeah,” Aqua said, standing up this time with the water can firmly in her hands. “The handle was just slippery.”

“You should be careful, Aqua,” Zack said, though she couldn’t see him very well. “I’d have to ask Terra to help you get to the hospital otherwise. Ow! Hey, what was that for?” It was clear that was directed at Aerith which Aqua at least appreciated the assist, even if it didn’t make the heat in her face go away at all.

“What’re you doing here?” Aqua asked, ignoring Zack’s comment completely. “Shouldn’t you be off work now?”

“Yeah, thankfully,” Terra said, turning to face her better, small smile on his lips. “I know it’s a nice day but I just figured I’d see if you wanted a ride home.”

Aerith was whispering something slightly commanding to Zack, who responded with a hushed “I didn’t say anything” but Aqua tried, really hard, not to pay attention to them.

“Oh, yeah, that would be really nice, thank you,” she said with a smile. “Well, if you don’t mind waiting…” She looked over to the clock. “Like five minutes?”

“You can go, Aqua,” Aerith said. “It’s fine.”

“So you can let her leave but I can’t?” Zack asked.

Aerith rolled her eyes but she was smiling. “Go on, don’t need to make him wait for five minutes.”

“Okay,” Aqua said. “Only if you’re sure.”

“Positive.”

Aqua went up to the counter, placing the can down so she could grab her purse from the shelves underneath. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow,” Aerith hummed, leaning back over to her order form.

“See ya,” Zack waved. “Take care of our little princess, okay? Home by…you know however long it takes to drive her home.”

“Bye, Zack,” Terra rolled his eyes, but pushed the door open wider for Aqua.

Stepping outside and breathing the fresh air of early spring was admittedly much better. “I’m sorry about them,” Aqua said, walking next to Terra to the parking lot behind the building where he usually parked his car.

“Don’t be,” he said, glancing over. “I went to school with Zack, I’m very much used to it.”

“Was he always that energetic?”

“Yes, always.” Terra pulled his keys out as they got closer to his car.

She waited on the passenger side until he opened his side of the door and she heard the click that all the doors were unlocked. She dropped her bag on the floor and slid into the car. It was all familiar to her now. In the winter, he didn’t want her to wait for the bus in the cold when they usually got off at the same time. Aqua tried not to focus on the fact the weather was very nice out, she didn’t even need a jacket today, but he was still offering; it made her chest feel light.

“So,” she sighed as she watched him start to back out of the parking spot. “How was work today?”

“Same old, same old really,” he said. “Now that people can eat outside again it gets a little busier.”

“I can understand.” She leaned her head back against the head rest as he pulled out into the street, taking the familiar way home. “I love the spring, when it starts to get warm and all the flowers come up.”

“Understandable, since you’re chronically cold.”

“Hey, just because I’m not a walking furnace at all seasons of the year doesn’t mean I’m the weird one here.”

“I didn’t even know the heat in my car could go as high as it does until I met you.”

“You’re being so dramatic,” she laughed, turning her head to him.

He was still watching the road, moving his hand to shift the car up, but she saw the smile on his lips, dimples on his cheeks. She could imagine this. She could imagine seeing him every day and not just for the few bits she saw him for food. Aqua bet even though he cooked for a living he still liked to cook dinner, that he snored, that he liked to watch movies with popcorn, that he wouldn’t mind that she stole all blankets. She wanted so much more, she wanted a chance at so much more with him. Even if she didn’t have a chance, even if it didn’t work out she had to at least try.

“How was work for you?” he asked, turning the car off the main street.

“Getting busier every day,” she said, trying to keep her voice even. “We have some winter and fall weddings, of course Valentine’s Day, and it picks up when the spring and summer brides start to plan, and then we have everyone who waits last minute to do anything.”

Terra clicked his tongue. “Of course.”

“But it’s okay, I like doing it. Aerith is the best at wedding flowers but I’m getting better, it’s fun.”

“I bet you’re much better at it then you give yourself credit for.”

“Yeah?” she asked though her breath caught in her throat. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I’ve seen you create displays and arraignments for people.” He glanced over to her. “They’re beautiful too.”

“Would you let me do the flowers at your hypothetical wedding?”

“Without a hypothetical doubt.”

She didn’t bother trying to hide her smile. “I still owe you a flower crown too.”

“You absolutely do, I didn’t forget. I was going to try to bring it up passive aggressively in a week or so. Thanks for saving me the trouble.”

She laughed louder than she probably should have but when he laughed too it didn’t really seem to matter. Neither did when he finally came to stop in front of her townhouse. She felt nerves twist down on her stomach, but she had to. She had to say something. This was the time.

“Do you work tomorrow?” he asked, watching her as she gathered her bag off the floor of his car.

“I do. You?”

“People have to eat,” he shrugged with a smile. “I’ll be there.”

“People do have to eat, but they’re lucky they get to eat your food.”

Terra paused as he watched her, but it quickly turned into a smile. “Ah, well, I appreciate that.”

She reached for the handle, trying to not let him see that her fingers were shaking as she pushed the door open. Just say it, say something, anything. Aqua poked her head back in the car, meeting his eyes. He still had the small smile on his lips, hair messy from the hairnet he had to wear, car smelling like the grill he worked over all day and it was the most inviting image Aqua saw all day.

“See you tomorrow then,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“See you tomorrow, Aqua.”

She shut the door but could only stand on the sidewalk as she watched his car drive away. She didn’t know whether to be furious with herself or cry that she once again wouldn’t let the words come out. She had been given so many chances since she met him, so many perfect moments but here she was still standing in front of her home alone.

She wouldn’t be given chances forever; that she knew for a fact.

Aqua stopped registering the sound of the bell about halfway through the day. Spring was in full swing, and between upcoming holidays and wedding season taking off it seemed like nonstop work. If she wasn’t helping customers with flowers or signing up for consultation appointments, she was helping Aerith get orders ready.

She barely had time to even eat her lunch, let alone be disappointed it was Cid and not Terra. So when she looked up from wrapping someone’s bouquet and he was walking through the door she was more than surprised. It was way past lunch and he wasn’t in his work uniform.

“Hey, Terra,” she said with a smile. She was busy but of course her stomach still had time to get fluttery at the sight of his smile. “Give me one second.”

“Take your time,” he said with a nod.

Aqua got the customer rang out and on their way as quickly as she could, for no ulterior motive of course. There was another costumer in the store but Kairi came in early to help out so that was handled and Aerith was in the back with a bride so everything should be okay. “What’s up?” she breathed looking over to where he was lingering around a few vases. “You had today off, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, clapping his hands together and fiddling his fingers some. He looked a little nervous, like he had never been in here before which was weird.

“Everything okay? I wouldn’t come back here if I wasn’t working,” she said, leaning slightly over the counter and praying no one came in so she had a moment with him.

“I’m actually here as a customer, for once.” He reached his hand up behind his head, giving almost a nervous smile.

“I take it you’ve never bought anyone flowers before?” Aqua tried not to feel the way her mouth went dry, her stomach turning slightly with nerves. Not every flower was romantic; it didn’t have to be that. She shouldn’t assume.

“Not at all.”

“Okay.” She gestured for him to follow her. “I got you, no problem. Do you want a premade bouquet or one you put together?”

“Ah.” He followed after her, though it wasn’t that big of a store and she could feel the warmth of his body behind her. “Maybe one put together like now.”

“Don’t be so nervous,” she chuckled, turning to look at him; which was funny considering she still felt like she was going to throw up. “It’s just flowers. Who are they for?”

Terra blinked at her. “Oh, um, a girl.”

“Yeah, I assumed, dummy.” Deep breaths, it’s okay. A girl could mean anyone. “I mean like mother, friend, sister, aunt, or, ah, romantic?”

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That, romantic.”

Aqua reached out to the nearest vase there was, carefully straightening it to mask the way she felt her face fall with disappointment that sunk her stomach down to her core. She knew she had no right to feel upset when this was entirely her fault. He was an amazing person, there’s no way she was the only person to know that. She used up all her chances.

She looked back up with the best customer service smile she had. “Oh! I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Terra.”

“I, um, well, I don’t,” he shrugged, both his hands were in his pockets, glancing away from her. “It’s more like…I like her, and I’m trying to say that in…the least awkward way possible which is a lot less than I feel right now.”

She laughed lightly, more for his sake than hers. “Then stop feeling awkward. There’s, you know, nothing awkward about it. So…” She looked away from him which was probably for the best to the flowers in front of them. “For affection, new, um, new love.”

Aqua reached out to the petals, remembering why she worked here, to make others happy. Even if it wasn’t… wasn’t her, she needed to make whoever it was feel all the emotions Terra was trying to express. “Red roses are the standard and they’d get the point across I’m sure but traditionally more for a deeper love than just trying to tell someone you like them.”

“Right,” was his only input.

“Okay,” she breathed. “Roses are still viewed as a romantic. So there’s the orange ones that can be seen as desire or passion. Yellow is kind of all over the place from friendship to extreme betrayal so I don’t recommend that one.”

“What about blue?” he asked reaching his hand out to touch one of them.

“Blue? Um, those in the romantic sense are sort of mystery or attaining the impossible. Also can be love at first sight. Same with the lavender ones as well.”

“Yeah, those two. Blue and purple.”

Aqua nodded. “Those two colors go very well together too. How many would you like?”

“Ah, however many you think is good?”

She glanced over at him still looking so embarrassed about this whole thing, it was hard not to feel a smile pull at her lips even if it hurt. He was such a sweet soul. “Okay, I got it handled.”

He must’ve gotten the hint because he made his way over to the counter as Aqua picked the amount of flowers she thought would look good. She could feel Kairi’s eyes looking over but Aqua ignored it. She took the flowers up to the counter and went about cutting and tying the flowers like she would anyone else.

“A card?” she asked, though she almost didn’t want to ask, afraid to see the name he’d say.

“Hmm?” He looked like he wasn’t even been paying attention.

“Um, do you want a card to go with it? A message, a name?”

“Oh, no, its fine.”

That was a relief at least. She wrapped up the flowers in some paper tying it once more so it would all stay together. It did look really lovely. “Here you go,” she said, handing him the bouquet even though he still had his wallet in his hand.

“Ah, how much?”

Aqua shook her head. “It’s on the house.”

“Aqua, you don’t have to do that.”

“You know how much you’ve saved me in food?” She hoped she held it together enough for him not to see the stinging in her eyes and only saw the smile. “Take it, please.”

He hesitated, but he put his wallet back in his pocket. “Well, thank you, I appreciate it.” He took the flowers but not before looking over to her again. “See you this weekend? At the wedding?”

Aqua nodded, blinking slightly. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Okay,” he said, looking down at the flowers before giving a smile. “Thanks again.”

“Course.”

Terra turned to leave and all she wanted to do was let him walk out that door and forget what it felt like when he smiled at her.

“Terra?”

“Yeah?” He turned around at the door looking back to her.

“I hope she likes them.”

He smiled again before giving her a wave. “I think she will.”

She watched him till he was gone. The sun was still shining and the flowers still smelt lovely, but it was a little less bright to her knowing what a mistake she made. He was wonderful; he deserved any sort of happiness. Aqua just hoped it would’ve been with her. Even if she knew it was her fault for never saying anything, it didn’t ease any of the hurt she felt.

It was her job to make others happy, she just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t let herself be happy too. Why couldn’t she risk something, anything for once? Aqua wished she had the answer.

The day went on. People came, they bought flowers, they talked about their loved ones, their happy days, the sadness of losing someone they loved, the excitement of finding someone new in your life and she met it all with a smile like she always did. Aerith knew, even if she chose not to ask. Kairi even probably knew. Aqua never said what happened; she didn’t want to think about it at work.

She said her afternoon goodbyes and waved from the door before stepping out into the warm air. She looked up and down the side walk in some stupid hope that maybe Terra happened to come back to pick her up but why would he? He was probably on a date tonight.

Aqua breathed in and headed to the bus stop. It was a very short ride to her home but it felt like an eternity. She wanted to get home, get in her pajamas, and just stay there for the rest of the day… maybe the week. She knew it would get better eventually, but for now the loss of something she never had still made her chest sting, making every breath hard.

She stepped off the bus to her small town house, thankful her neighbor wasn’t outside since she was pretty sure she didn’t want to talk to anyone anymore. Home, PJ’s, couch, and probably something really sweet. That was all she wanted.

Until something caught her eye on her porch.

It was a nice distraction since she wasn’t expecting any packages. Aqua walked up the few steps, but the paper was already familiar. She nearly stopped in her tracks but she kept going, reaching for the flowers propped in between the screen door and her house door. The blues and purples she knew well, ones she had weaved together just a couple hours prior, to make someone smile.

Her breath choked in her throat. It had to be a mistake, right? Maybe she did something wrong with them and he didn’t want to embarrass her at the store? Against her better judgement she reached a hand up to run over the velvety petals, though the sharp corner of paper felt distinctly out of place. Aqua carefully pulled out a ripped piece of paper of some sort, her guess was probably whatever Terra had in his car which was endearing in itself.

She almost didn’t want to look, afraid if it was a mistake someone else’s name would be on it. She should just give it back to him when she saw him tomorrow but it admittedly didn’t stop her own eyes from looking over his messy handwriting. She recognized all the curves, the sloppy quick way he wrote from years of making fast orders and notations, but she especially recognized how her name looked when he wrote it. She saw it countless times on boxes, orders, notes; her name was addressed here.

Aqua was afraid if she didn’t hold onto the flowers as tightly as she was, she’d drop them.

I didn’t know how else to tell you

-Terra

She was fairly certain she read it over a dozen times before she sank to the ground right there on her porch. The note was tight in her hand as she leaned her face to the flowers, the scent just as lovely as it ever was, almost lovelier now. Aqua was also aware she might actually look crazy if she started to cry over flowers on her front porch but she didn’t even know how to process the feelings that were swirling around her, going from utter despair to warm fluttering hope in a matter of seconds.

She didn’t know a lot of things, or even how to handle herself in a situation like this. What she did know was she’d never miss her chance again, not this time.

Aqua could still see the flowers sitting on her counter, the purples and blues creating such a pretty image in her small living room even as she was setting up someone else’s flowers. The ceremony was already under way which meant the reception area had to be perfect real quick. Thankfully Aerith and her mother were also here and they were all just about done.

Aqua reached over to adjust some of the petals on the center piece she was working on but couldn’t help but glance at the kitchen every time the door swung open. She recognized all of the workers, including Cid himself, but not Terra; granted not that the middle of someone’s reception was probably the best place to talk to him. She spent most the night lying awake in bed, trying to think of what she should say, how she should say it.

She still didn’t really have a good plan but it had to be something. She should’ve done this long before now.

She looked over to where the food was being prepared to be served, that looked like just about everyone really. Even if there were a few people lingering it would still be okay. Aqua took one last look down at the flowers and hurried over to the kitchen door. She pushed it open, though the smell of food was already enough to make her stomach growl; breakfast probably would’ve been a good thing to have.

It was surprisingly empty for the most part, though there was still plenty of food cooking, in the process of being prepared. The door swung closed behind her. She looked up just as Terra did from his place behind one of the tables.

“Oh, hey,” he said, small smile on his lips, though she didn’t miss how he nearly dropped the container of dressing he was filling. He quickly put the bottles down, reaching up to tug off the hairnet, making Aqua laugh; he really hated those things. “Sorry I hadn’t gotten to say hi.”

“It’s okay,” she said, walking over to the table full of salad mixes. “I know it’s always busy.”

“Ah, yeah, weddings are busy.” He tugged his plastic gloves off his hands, tossing them on the table. “What’s up? How’s the set up going?”

She wanted to tell him it was good, almost done. She’d be able to leave soon which was usually when he offered to have her stay so he could sneak her a plate of food. She wanted it because times like that she really enjoyed with him, but she wanted to say so much more this time. How could she though? She didn’t even know the words to express how happy she was to spend time with him, how he made her feel every time he smiled at her, how much seeing those flowers on her porch made her feel. Maybe he had felt the same way too.

Aqua reached her hands up to his face pulling him down till she could press her lips to his. She knew she caught him off guard by the sharp intake of his breath, but he didn’t give her time to back down before his hands were on her waist. She looked up at him, his eyes fluttering open.

“I didn’t know how to tell you either.”

He hummed slightly, smile pulling at his lips. “I told you that you put together beautiful flowers.”

She dropped her hands to his chest, hitting him lightly though it was a little hard to breathe with him so close to her, his warm touch still on her. “Why didn’t you tell me in the store? I thought there was someone else.” Easy for her to say, yeah, when she couldn’t do it either.

“Okay, first of all,” he snorted, but his smile was so beautiful Aqua hoped they didn’t need him for the rest of the day because she was pretty done with working at this point. “I had hoped you weren’t there because that would’ve been a lot of easier. What was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to embarrass you in public or back down, you know, again.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “They were really beautiful.”

“Oh, I’m glad you think so considering you’re the one who made the bouquet.”

She tried not to laugh, she really did, they were having a serious conversation. She can finally, finally able to get things off her chest but she dissolved into a fit of laughter anyways.

“Second of all,” he continued, reaching a hand up to her face to get her to look at him again. “There hasn’t been anyone else since I walked into the store and saw you smile back at me.”

“I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you,” she breathed, suddenly very unaware of anything else.

“I’m sorry I did too.” His breath was warm on her lips, hand sliding to brush past her hair.

She curled her fingers into the straps of his apron. “Doesn’t matter now.”

“Not at all.”

Aqua barely felt his lips against hers again before the kitchen door swung open.

“Terra, hey, Cid-”

Not really any time to pretend they were doing anything less than they were, so Aqua merely looked up to see one of the younger boys, Sora, looking surprised before reaching a hand up to his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, cringing under his hand. “Cid says he needs those salads now, Terra, or he’s going to kick your ass himself.”

“Ah, yep, sounds about right.” Terra let her go, to move and grab the two bowls of salads as Sora quickly scurried off back to the reception floor. “Hey, okay, don’t go.” Terra said to her as he walked backwards to the doors, one bowl in each hand. “I’ll get you something to eat when I get back.”

“Okay,” she nodded, reaching her fingers up to her lips for no reason really.

“Okay,” he said, leaning back against the door with a smile.

“Terra,” Sora hissed from the other side of the door.

“Coming, coming.” Terra pushed open the door and he was gone.

Aqua took a moment to breathe before following after him. She poked her head out but no one was paying attention. It looked like all the flowers were finished but she knew she should ask just in case. She really was trying to go find Aerith or Mrs. Gainsborough but she couldn’t help but see Cid gesturing at Terra’s hair angrily as he clearly forgot to put the hairnet back on. He had to jog back to the kitchen to get another one.

She tried not to laugh as she reached forward to adjust one of the center pieces, the flowers smelling even better. The day seemed brighter already as she looked forward to hanging out with Terra in the kitchen, whatever they chose to do next, wherever they would go from here.

Honestly, she wasn’t sure what she had ever been afraid of in the first place.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #terra #aqua #kh fanfic #my fics:kh #modernaukh #tobewithyou #I posted this a while ago but never here hahaha

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

I’d Love You for a Thousand More

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Pre-Canon to Post Canon

Rating: T (Slight language & Slight Sexual Implications)

Words: 11209

Notes: HAPPY TERRAQUA DAY <3 My otp of otps I couldn’t not do something for them that was both different and special! SO this is actually a prompt and request fill. @ceelihearts posted that they liked the idea of Terra asking Aqua to marry him a few times (like Flynn and Rapunzel), they also mentioned it would be cute to include childhood too and I couldn’t stop myself hahaha Also a while back an anon asked me for an in canon proposal for them so here you go too, anon! I enjoyed doing this one a lot, I had to be super creative to think of ways this would be feasible hahaha I hope you guys enjoy it too!

Special thanks to my Jason who beta read this for me after I whined at how long it came out LMAO Thank you for dealing with me being an anxious mess the whole time you read it and giving me the help I needed <3

AO3

I’d Love You for a Thousand More

Or the Five Times Terra Told Aqua He’d Marry Her and the One Time She Said Yes

Terra hated the days Master Eraqus made them sit up in the library to study. Not only was it boring on a rainy day but even more so when the sun was shining through the windows, the green grass of the fields and high mountains in the distance beckoning him away on some adventure. There was literally anything else Terra would rather be doing than reading a dull book with no pictures. He huffed as he flipped the page of his book, the black words blending into the paper as one giant blur.

He propped his elbow up on the wooden table, placing his chin in his hand so he could stare out the window instead. It seemed cruel punishment to have history lessons on such a warm and sunny day. All he wanted to do was just go outside and actually do something. He was ten years old now; he should be able to have more combat training than reading.

Terra stuck his tongue out slightly as he looked to the book once more. Maybe if he just got through it fast, Master would let him go outside. He tried to blink the words back to focus, but a slight giggle made him look up.

Aqua was sitting only one chair away. She was only a couple years younger than him, but even she looked small in the big library chair. She had one hand over her mouth as she watched him, an amused expression in her blue eyes.

“What?” Terra grunted.

“You look like you just ate a bug,” she replied.

“I think I’d rather eat bugs than read this book.”

Aqua giggled again, looking back to her own work in front of her. She was better at this sort of stuff, so she probably didn’t hate every bit of this lesson.

Terra looked to his book again though this time feeling a little better. It was nice to at least have her here; it was really boring when he had to have lessons alone before she came to live with them. He didn’t really know what to make of her at first. He was alone before Master Eraqus came and then they were alone here. Terra was used to the quiet and doing things on his own even if sometimes it made him sad to not have anyone to play with. Then Aqua came and she was talkative and liked to hang around him and was like this walking ball of sunshine at all times. He found her annoying really; who was that happy all the time? It wasn’t till he heard her crying one night alone in her room that he thought she might’ve been as lonely as he was. He tried a little harder after that.

It was a few years ago though, and he couldn’t imagine not being her friend now. He found she made everything a little better.

Granted she couldn’t do his reading for him so she wasn’t helping there. He sighed, dropping his head into the book. “This is terrible.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It is too.”

“The faster you finish the faster we can do something fun.”

“I know,” he groaned, picking his head back up. “But it’s impossible.”

Aqua looked like she was going to respond, probably with some answer like “no, it’s not” or “Master wouldn’t have given it to you if it was” but instead Terra watched her eyes light up as she looked over her book.

“What?” he asked, leaning over to try and see what she was looking at.

“It’s so pretty,” was her only answer.

Terra couldn’t see it and she wasn’t holding it up to show him so he climbed into the chair next to her, sitting up on his knees to look over her shoulder. Aqua was tracing her finger over the painted picture in the book, a woman surrounded by flowers in a flowing white dress. Figures, despite the fact she didn’t mind mud or bugs she still liked the girliest things sometimes. Still, there seemed to be something familiar about this picture, like he had seen it before.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A wedding,” she said proudly, probably trying to prove to him that she was actually doing her work.

“A wedding,” he repeated. “Like in fairy tales?”

“Well, yeah, but weddings happen in real life too.”

He supposed that made sense. It was just that he had only ever seen weddings at the end of fairy tales when the prince and princess were finally able to be together. “What happens in it then?” Terra wasn’t really sure why he asked at first, but he figured it was a good way not to have to go back to his own reading.

Aqua got an excited look on her face as she flipped back a few pages. “My readings have been on traditions, especially with keyblade wielders, this section was on marriage and weddings.”

He wrinkled his nose; traditions usually meant you had to do them. “Wait, does that mean you have to get married?” He didn’t really know what went into being married but he knew the couple usually kissed, and that was gross.

She paused for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. It’s just a lesson on what it’s like. You should only get married if you’re in love with someone.” Aqua looked back down to the book, a picture of a man and women dressed in whites with their hands wrapped in some sort of cloth together. “And you have to be an adult. I think. All these pictures are adults so I guess they have to be.”

“Does that mean Master is married?” Terra asked. The thought had never occurred to him before now, but Master Eraqus was an adult after all.

Aqua looked up at the ceiling, a sure sign she was thinking. “No, I don’t think so. I think if he did we’d see whoever he was married to. You usually live together.” She flipped the page really quick pointing to a picture of jewelry. “And rings, as a symbol of the bond you wear rings. Master doesn’t have any rings like that.”

“That’s true.” Terra reached a finger up to tap at his chin in thought. “So what’s it like? You just dress up fancy and give each other rings?”

“Umm…” Aqua looked over the pages, turning it again. “Well, yeah, and you read an oath in front of witnesses. There’s something with the keyblades you hold, something to do with the magic. It’s like, once you perform the ceremony you’re bonded together forever both cause you love each other and through the magic.”

That peaked his interested more than the actual wedding, but he knew that was mainly because neither him nor Aqua had been able to summon a keyblade yet.

“And then…you kiss.”

Terra leaned back on the chair. “Sounds gross.”

“It’s not gross,” she said, almost more defensively than she needed to be.

He arched an eyebrow at her. “What? Do you want to get married?”

Aqua crossed her arms against her chest, looking away from him but he caught the hint of red on her cheeks. “I don’t know, maybe. I’m not an adult, I can’t say.”

He leaned in to poke at her side. “Yes, you do, don’t lie to me.”

“Terra,” she whined, but she was laughing, her smile making her eyes bright again. He liked it when she smiled. “It would be nice to wear such a pretty dress.”

“Still gross.”

“It’s not gross.” She turned in her seat to face him better. “It’s like…” Aqua paused, glancing away before looking back. “It’s like spending the rest of your life with someone who makes you happy, it’s like never being alone again.”

That admittedly did sound a lot better. He remembered what it felt like to feel alone in this big castle, and he really didn’t like that. Spending time with someone who made him happy seemed really nice. “Well, in that case,” he said. “I’d marry you.”

Aqua blinked at him.

“Without the kissing,” Terra clarified, sticking his tongue out a little.

She clasped her hands over her mouth as she started to laugh, but he really didn’t know what was so funny. “You’re silly, Terra,” she giggled.

“What?” he asked. “It’s the truth. If I had to pick one person to spend the rest of my time with, it’d be you. Would you marry me?”

Aqua pulled her hands away from her mouth, a big smile on her lips as she watched him. She looked like she was going to answer him but what the answer was he’d never know.

“Sounds like you’re doing far more talking than reading.” Master’s voice echoing off the bookshelves was enough to send Terra scrambling back to his seat as Aqua quickly turned to her book.

Terra could hear Master Eraqus’ footsteps as he walked closer to where they were studying but even then Terra couldn’t resist glancing over at Aqua. She looked up at him too, smile still on her lips. He quickly looked down before they got caught again but he couldn’t stop his face from feeling hot.

He wondered what she would’ve said.

II.

Terra barely had time to swing his keyblade to block the blast of ice magic flying at him. The force nearly pushed him back, blowing cold air all around him and making his face tingle from the chill. Aqua had taken quite easily to magic, but she sometimes was eager when it came to using it. Another shot came at him, causing him to duck to avoid it.

A little too eager sometimes.

He tried to compose himself and figure out where she was on the training grounds before she decided to fire more magic at him. Blue was easy to catch out of the corner of his eyes; also he was used to looking for it for the past ten years. She was skirting the edges, keeping her distance and always moving. She’d keep range until she felt like she could get the upper hand in closer combat.

Terra admittedly wasn’t as good with magic as she was, and he knew it, but he made up for it with his own strength. It was frustrating at first when he a kid who could barely hold his keyblade up when he summoned it; where as Aqua had no issues learning to fight with hers which was lighter and more agile. It took time for a scrawny twelve year old to build up the strength to be able to fight like he could now, but he held himself very differently now at eighteen.

There.

Aqua hurried past some of the rocks on the outskirts of the rink. He wasn’t great with magic but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to use it; he quickly cast a fire spell towards her, sending it past her to hit the rocks. The impact was enough to knock her off her track.

Ven cheered from somewhere in the background but Master Eraqus must’ve shushed the blond boy because it was quiet again.

She skidded to a stop glancing over to Terra nd he didn’t miss the slightly impressed look in her eyes. It only lasted for a second because she was already coming at him. Terra met her, swinging his keyblade up to block her inevitable attack.

She jumped back slightly, her bangs falling into her face but she didn’t move to adjust. Aqua had only recently started wearing her hair short, saying it got too annoying when she was trying to fight. “Nice hit,” she said. “You surprised me.”

“Yeah, you too. Your ice magic is getting stronger, I felt like I was getting hit with a small blizzard,” he breathed, feeling a slight smirk pull at his lips. “If only you weren’t so afraid that you need to run away from me.”

Aqua arched her eyebrows, twirling her keyblade in her hand before grabbing down on it again. “Oh, is that how we’re going to play?”

He saw her feet shift, dust moving just a little. He steadied himself to brace his body. “Yep, you know it.”

She dove at him and if it was anyone else the speed would have surprised him but Aqua he knew. He was already there, pushing his keyblade against hers to knock her off balance. Granted, she knew him too so she landed just fine, darting around to his side to try and catching an opening. He wasn’t as fast as her due to the weight of his weapon but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to use it. He swung it around blocking her attack, and pushing her back to harshly she skidded in the dirt, making dust rise up.

Aqua tried to use that to her advantage and come at him from the other side but he saw it coming a mile away. He moved out of her way, swinging his keyblade at her now open side. Granted it wasn’t open for long as she gracefully twisted her body, almost like she was dancing, his keyblade hitting hers with a metallic clang. Despite her quick movements, the sudden twist managed to tangled her feet, causing her to hit the ground and slide back a little.

“C’mon, Aqua!” Ven shouted. “You got this !”

“Ventus, hush now,” Master Eraqus said.

Ven probably mumbled a sorry but Terra didn’t pay attention. Aqua was already pushing herself up to her feet, darting at him. He recognized the words on her lips and quickly ducked before ice shards hit him in the face. He swung at her, nearly catching her legs as she jumped towards him but she avoided it, flipping off to his side.

Terra reached the back of his hand up to his forehead, brushing off the beads of sweat. They often found themselves in stand offs like this which is probably what happened when you fought with someone so much you knew almost exactly what they would do. It only made it harder since it was that much more difficult to get knocked down.

“Not always so fast, are you,” he said, knowing she’d understand he was only egging her on and not critiquing her.

A pause before a smile crossed her lips. “You’d know wouldn’t you?”

He moved at her that time. While she blocked him, the force of his weight made her slip back before she could catch her balance again. “What was that now?”

She snorted, rolling her eyes but her amused smile was still there. “Cute, really cute, Terra.” Aqua spun out of his hold, skirting off to the side of him and making him whip around, blocking her attack just in time. “Being fast works just as well as being strong,” she said.

Terra heaved himself at her, pushing her back so she slid in the dirt. “You’re strong too.”

“Not like you.” Aqua positioned her feet before she started to run at him.

He recognized the set up and really he wanted to help her more than he wanted to win. So he ducked slightly when she pushed herself off the ground. It was a fast moment but it wasn’t the first time she practiced the move on him. He was ready to push his keyblade against hers as she flipped over his head, giving her the momentum to be able to land on her feet on the other side of him.

“That’s not true,” he said, swinging low towards her legs while she was distracted from her landing but she skipped out of the way. “Your strength just doesn’t come from the fact you had to learn how to throw this thing around.”

She giggled slightly as she ran to his side, trying to get a quick hit but he blocked it; a little awkwardly though causing him to lose his balance. There’s no way she didn’t notice, not when she intentionally swung at him again to try and get him to fall.

He steadied himself even if by doing so she managed a hit on him, nearly taking his breath out. Terra winced as the sudden pain in his side, but moved to block her next swing so it wouldn’t happen again.

“I don’t know,” she said though she sounded a little winded, and he knew the feeling. The sun was high overhead. How long had they been at this today? “Maybe it’s better that way.”

“What are you talking about?” he grunted, resisting reaching to his side to see how bad the bruise would be. If she knew he felt it, she’d use it to her advantage.

She ran up to him, spinning around as she cast a spell. He would’ve blocked it but he recognized the green hue to it. The pain in his side eased immediately; which she really wasn’t supposed to do so he hoped Master didn’t see it or she’d probably get in trouble. Aqua swung at him but he blocked it easily. “Guys don’t like strong girls,” she said simply.

If they hadn’t been in the middle of training and if Master wasn’t watching Terra would’ve dropped the fight right there. For a second he thought she was just trying to catch him off guard but when he pushed her back he saw the way her eyes dropped down ever so slightly. “What?” he asked. “What makes you think that?”

She shrugged but she ran off to the side. He thought she’d go back to running the perimeter to avoid what she may’ve let slip and not actually wanted to talk to him about. It wasn’t always like that, they used to tell each other everything but for the past few years it got…confusing. Ven was usually a good distraction, coming in when the air got too tense between them or when the smallest things seemed to make something feel awkward when it never did before. Terra swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched her. He understood why, but it’s not like knowing made it easier to come to terms with his feelings for his best friend.

Aqua veered off course, coming at him from behind but he twisted around, the sharp grind of the weapons hitting each other. “Books,” she answered with her teeth gritted from trying to push him back. “Fairy tales, princes and princesses. They’re all delicate, pretty girls.”

He was the one who managed to get her to skid backwards. She caught her balance fine, reaching up to brush her sweaty bangs from her face. She didn’t look quite as determined anymore, maybe a little sad and he hated it.

This was probably why Eraqus told them they probably shouldn’t have full conversations while they were sparring; an old habit from childhood Terra supposed.

“I’m not like that.” she continued, gripping her keyblade as she cast a water spell towards him.

He had to dive out of the way to not get hit with the blast but scrambled up to his feet in time to black her next swing. “You’re delusional,” he grunted, trying to catch his breath as he held his keyblade up against her force. “You’re not delicate that’s for sure.” Terra pushed her off of him as she twirled slightly away from him.

He wasn’t sure what it was because he was facing down with Aqua, looking as sweaty and dirty as he was; they weren’t even alone as there were two people watching them for technique and skills. Maybe it was an effort to make her feel better when he thought it was the stupidest thing to be bothering her or maybe because he wanted to say them, he wasn’t really sure but he opened his mouth anyways. “But you are pretty, beautiful and strong and there’s nothing wrong with that. Guys still like that. I am one, remember?”

She paused, watching him, like she never expected him to say that.

He took it to his advantage and quickly moved towards her but she wasn’t that stupid; as he should’ve know. Her keyblade was up and ready to block him. He should’ve left it at that really. There was no need for him to open his mouth again, and yet he still did.

“Anyone would be lucky to marry you. I would be.” It didn’t even make sense as he said it. “I mean to marry you. I’d be lucky to marry you…well, someone like you is…what I mean.”

Aqua was staring at him, wide eyed and maybe a little confused. It didn’t even make sense to him and he was the one who said it. He pushed her backwards, mostly to get out of this situation that had his face feeling like it was on fire.

He expected her to bounce back up but she didn’t. She caught the ground with her hand, dropping to one knee as she held her stomach; apparently in his panic he hit her a little too hard. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle it but he tried not to do it on purpose.

“It’s over!” Ven shouted, probably getting the okay from Eraqus to let the match end there.

Terra could hear the younger boy’s feet pounding towards them in the arena but Terra still couldn’t breathe; mostly because his stupid words were ringing in his head. He dismissed his keyblade and slowly walked to Aqua who was still panting, face towards the ground. Returning her earlier favor, he cast a quick healing spell on her before he reached his hand down to help her up.

Aqua dismissed her keyblade as she look at him. Her face was unreadable for a moment but she gave him a smile. “Nice match,” she said, reaching her hand up for his.

“Yeah, you too.” He pulled her up to her feet just as Ven ran over, exclaiming something so fast that Terra could barely understand him.

Aqua was quicker in understanding, giving Ven a nudge against his chin before she dismissed her keyblade. “Oh, yeah? You liked that?”

She looked over to Terra, who was unsure what he should say or if he should say anything at all. Aqua gave him a smile, a reassuring one almost to say, “the match and everything was just fine, don’t worry”. She turned to respond to Ven and the footsteps of Master Eraqus got closer as he’d want to go over their spar.

Aqua never brought it up what Terra said, and neither did he.

III.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he sat up in bed, sweat caked on his forehead even though it wasn’t very warm out. His legs were tangled in blankets, head swimming as he tried to blink in his surroundings. The window was open, blowing in a light breeze as he tried to calm his breathing.

He was home, in his room, just like it was before. It was the same bed, same night stand, same castle; he was home. His nightmares were still so vivid the lines blurred sometimes. In them he was still trapped, imprisoned unable to move, or to even speak. All he could do was watch in vain as Aqua and Ven were tormented at Terra’s own hands over and over again.

“Terra,” her voice called, his door swinging open. Aqua sounded worried, and her facial expression matched the sound when she stepped into his room far enough that he could see her in the moonlight. She paused, as if she wasn’t sure if she should keep coming to him.

It was a dream, it was just a dream, he repeated in his head. Even though he was still having a hard time catching his breath, the concern that shone in her eyes was enough. He could never dream up her looking at him like she cared so much for his well-being; his dreams were never that kind to him. He rubbed one hand over his face, the other gesturing for her to come over since she was probably waiting for his consent.

Aqua walked slowly, till she sat up on his bed, her legs almost brushing up against his. She didn’t say anything and neither did he; just his heavy breathing as he tried to calm himself down. It was admittedly easier when she was here. He might’ve still been working through what had happened to them, but everything was always better when Aqua was here; that never changed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his throat was dry, like he hadn’t had water in days. “Did I wake you?”

She hesitated, pulling on the long sleeves of her shirt absent mindedly. “I wasn’t asleep.”

He nodded but it didn’t really make him feel any better. He saw the dark circles under her eyes to know she was telling the truth. Yet she was also leaving out the part where he must’ve been talking or shouting for her to even come in here in the first place. He decided he didn’t want to know whatever the case might’ve been.

“Nightmares?” she offered.

“Yeah,” he breathed, dropping his hands to his lap.

Aqua nodded in understanding but didn’t say anything else, she just sat there with her legs tucked up underneath her. He couldn’t tell if there was something she wanted to say or she was just worried about how he felt.

“You can go back to bed,” he said, realizing only after that he didn’t want to make her feel like she had to. “Ah, I mean, I don’t want to keep you up, I’ll be okay.”

She perked up a little bit, giving him a sort of smile. “That’s not how it works,” she tutted. “You know that. You used to keep me company when I had nightmares after I came here. I’m here to do the same.”

Terra leaned his head back against the backboard of his bed, feeling a little bit of relief that the air felt a little more normal between them. “I’m not sure sneaking down to the kitchen at two in the morning can solve this one.”

“I’m very offended that you don’t think food can’t solve everything.”

He snorted, a smile pulling at his lips despite his exhaustion. “Would you like to prove me wrong?”

“Don’t I always?”

Terra paused for a second but he saw the laughter start to bubble up in her even if she tried to keep it quiet. It was impossible not to laugh with her. “Fair point,” he said.

“I’ll be right back then,” she said as she kicked her legs off the bed, heading towards the door. Aqua stopped short though, turning back to him; this time he knew there was something she wanted to tell him. He knew it by the way her fingers fiddled with the hem of her shirt, the hesitation in the way she bit at her lower lip, the slight fear in her eyes at what she didn’t want to admit. “I…um…”

Aqua didn’t need to finish the sentence for him to understand. The castle was too dark at night for her not to remember being alone and lost. Terra felt a sting of pain in his chest; he never wanted her to feel afraid in her own home.

He kicked the blankets back, pushing himself out of bed. “I’ll come with you, okay?”

She nodded, her face looking relieved; if it was because he was coming or because she didn’t need to ask he wasn’t quite sure. Aqua followed him out of the room and he made sure to keep his steps even with hers. If she should start to feel lost at least there was a warm and real body there to remind her she was safe.

“Where’re you going?”

Terra paused to turn his head back down the hallway, Aqua stopping with him. He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised at the blond hair and blue eyes poking out into the hallway. Ven looked a little tired but his voice was clear which was probably a sign he had been awake too.

“Kitchen for something to eat, wanna come?”

“Yeah!” Ven said far too excitedly for this hour.

Terra turned back to start to walk again but was nearly knocked over by a force hitting into his back. He had to scramble to catch Ven’s legs as he grabbed onto Terra’s shoulders, Ven pulling himself up to sit up on Terra’s back.

“Do you feel better?” he snorted, catching blond out of the corner of his eyes.

“Yep,” Ven said, popping his lips on the word.

Aqua tried not to laugh but she wasn’t doing a very good job. She reached over to pull down Ven’s shirt where it had bunched up in his effort for a piggy back ride.

For a moment, it seemed so normal as they walked he familiar path they had so many times especially late at night. It used to be just be Terra and Aqua, and then Ven would tag along if he was awake to catch them. They knew all the quickest ways, which stair creaked loud enough to wake Master Eraqus, what foods wouldn’t smell too strongly for the aroma to float through the castle. Even though it was just the three of them now, Terra still skipped the creaky step and Aqua still pushed open the dining room door in the way she knew it wouldn’t make any noise.

Ven reached over to flick on the kitchen light, before jumping so his feet hit the ground. “I know exactly what to eat.”

“Of course you do,” Terra said, gesturing for Aqua to sit at the small table they had set up off to the side while he headed for the stove.

Ven pulled open the kitchen door and held out the remains of the chocolate cake Aqua baked yesterday for no reason other than she wanted it. He sat down next to her, removing the plastic though careful not to smudge the chocolate frosting on top.

“Plates?” Aqua asked but Ven shook his head.

“No, we eat cake like men, straight from the pan.”

“Okay, men,” Terra snorted as he filled a pot up with water. “Do you eat it with your hands too? Or do you want forks?”

Ven paused for a second. “Forks please.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Terra reached for the drawer pulling out two forks to pass to Aqua who was chuckling. Granted, there wasn’t much better than eating something Aqua made at two in the morning straight from the pan, he knew that from plenty of experience.

Ven seemed to think the same as he sighed in contentment, reaching his fork for another bite.

Terra turned the stove on, getting the water ready to boil while he pulled open the cabinet filled with small vials and little bags. Most of the food had to get tossed since magic couldn’t preserve things from going bad after twelve years but he tried to restock some of their tea leaves when he could; especially ones that were calming to help with sleep. He pulled a few bags down and reached for three mugs that were drying on a nearby rack.

“There’s some cookies in the fridge, Terra,” Aqua said, covering her mouth slightly as she finished her bite. “I made them for you.”

“Well, thanks, I’ll grab them in a second.” He opened the first bag, pouring out what he needed to make a nice chamomile blend into the familiar clay pot that would hopefully soothe some of the restlessness they all had. Granted the two them were downing sugar right now so he wasn’t sure if this would do anything; as long as they were happy.

“Hey, Xion asked me a weird question the other day,” Ven said, barely audible because of the food in his mouth.

“Oh yeah?” Terra asked, looking up from the tea to glance at Aqua who was already looking back at him. To be fair, the things they had been through and the things new found friends had been through was the definition of weird. It really could be anything, but that didn’t stop the question from making the nerves in his stomach tighten. Aqua seemed to feel the same.

There were a lot of questions, and very little answers.

“Yeah,” Ven swallowed the bite of cake. “I meant to tell you earlier but I forgot.”

“Well, what is it?” Aqua asked, in an encouraging way, letting him know that they needed to have conversations about anything; she knew just as well not talking to each other is what got them into far bigger messes than they could’ve dreamed.

Ven reached take another forkful of cake. “She asked me if you guys were my parents.”

Terra fumbled the bag of herbs, knocking way too much into the pot. Aqua had a similar reaction as he could hear her choking slightly on her cake. That wasn’t exactly the question he was expecting.

“Which I mean, I told her no, cause you guys aren’t even that much older than me,” Ven continued, sitting up on the chair on his knees for better reach of the table. “I asked her why she thought that cause it was such a weird question, you know?”

Terra was trying to pour the tea leaves back into the bag and fix his mistake but he glanced over at the table.

“Oh?” Aqua asked, still trying to recover herself. “What did she say then?”

“She said that you guys just seemed like parents the way you looked out for me and everyone after, you know…” He paused for a second to get more cake. “After everything that happened. I asked her if maybe she meant you guys acted like you were married, cause you’re too young to have kids.”

Terra nearly dropped the bag of leaves again but he managed to keep it steady. He grabbed another blend to pour in but glanced over to the table. Aqua was still picking at the cake but he couldn’t see her face from here.

“Ah, Ven, you do realize you have to have, ah, a special relationship to get married right?” Aqua asked carefully.

He still had a mouth full of cake as he grinned at her. “Yep.”

When did he turn into such a smart ass? Terra was about to speak up to change the subject that was currently making his face feel hotter than it needed to be. Thankfully, the water broke to a boil next to him as a good distraction. He was well aware that his feelings never changed but now was really not time to face all of that head on.

Terra reached over to grab the pot and pour the water carefully into the teapot.

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth,” Aqua said, but it was very lighthearted; probably her effort to change the subject.

Ven audibly swallowed his food. “Yes, mom.”

“Ventus.”

It was too late, he had already dissolved into laughter because he apparently found himself hilarious.

“Alright, alright,” Terra said, carefully carrying over the mugs and the teapot as it brewed with the leaves. “How about balance the sugar some?”

Ven made a face but he grabbed a mug anyway. Terra placed one in front of Aqua but she was already moving out of her chair heading for the fridge. He put the teapot on a coaster between them to wait a few minutes longer but before he could even sit down on the chair next to hers, there was a plate of cookies placed in front of him.

“Dark chocolate and walnuts,” she said, sitting down again to pick up her fork.

“Gross,” Ven said, wrinkling his nose.

“Yeah, well, what if I said that cake you love so much was gross,” Terra snorted, pulling the plastic back so he could grab one of the cookies.

“Blasphemy.” Ven pointed his fork over to Terra.

He rolled his eyes but took a bite from the cookie. It tasted as to be expected from one of Aqua’s baked goods; which was in short, delicious. She should know this by now, but she was watching him for his reaction regardless. Maybe it was because it had been so long so wanted to make sure she could still do the things she used to or maybe because she was worried about him, he wasn’t sure. Terra looked over to Ven who was also watching for a reaction; Terra gave the blond a wink.

“Aqua,” he said, holding up the cookie slightly. “These are so good, I’d marry you right here and now.”

She stared at him for a second, but Ven quickly erupted into laughter making Terra crack a smile at her. “Oh, you two,” she said, though she had started to laugh too. “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not brothers.”

“See,” Ven said. “Terra agrees.”

Aqua didn’t say anything else, she just took another bite of cake while he popped the rest of his cookie in his mouth. He reached forward to grab the teapot so he could pour it in the mugs.

A joke, it really had been a joke to make the both of them laugh. It worked well enough but at the same time Terra felt a warm feeling in his chest that had nothing to do with the hot tea he was pouring for her.

He moved to pour Ven’s cup before Terra went back to his own. He knew right now they were still figuring out how to get control of their lives again right now, wounds had to be healed, and a sense of normality had to be found. Everything else could wait; it didn’t stop his breath from hitching in his throat when she looked over to him, holding her mug to her lips.

“Thank you, Terra.”

“No, thank you,” he paused as he leaned back in his chair with his own mug. “For looking after me.”

She gave him a smile that almost made the nightmares seem like a distant memory. “Of course, that’s what I do.”

Ven was ignoring the tea and still going for the cake. “You guys are so sappy.”

He was adamantly ignored, though Aqua did reach over to push at his head lightly. “Drink some tea,” she said instead. “You’ll get a stomachache if you eat too much of it.”

The nights were still so dark, and the future uncertain, but Terra knew they’d make it through together; like they always had before. Aqua kept one hand on her mug but reached the other under the table, finding Terra’s so she could lace her fingers through it. She gave him a squeeze, a reassurance almost as if she could read his mind.

Ven was blowing at his tea. “I saw that.”

IV.

The sun shone in through the window in Terra’s room, bright enough to make him wince even though he was still comfortable in bed with his eyes firmly closed. A part of him knew that meant he slept in way too late, but he was too warm and the blankets were too soft for him to care.

He rolled over onto his side and mostly expected the rest of the bed to be empty since it was already sunrise. Even in his half-awake state he was pleasantly surprised to feel a warm body still tucked under the blankets. She was usually up so much earlier than him, he didn’t expect her to still be in bed.

Not that he was about to complain. Terra wrapped his arm around Aqua’s waist, pulling her back against him and letting his face burying into the familiar scent of her vanilla shampoo. She chuckled slightly, reaching a hand up to brush by his cheek and into his hair.

“Good morning.” Her voice still sounded sleepy like she hadn’t even been awake for that long.

“Morning,” he mumbled into her hair. “I wasn’t expecting you to still be here.”

She hummed, fingers gently rubbing against his head. “What? I can’t be lazy like you?”

“I’m not lazy. I just like sleep.”

She laughed again and he couldn’t keep the smile from pulling at his lips. His days were so bright now that even the nights weren’t as hard. Granted, going to sleep with her by his side and knowing she’d still be there in the morning helped significantly. When she did get up before him, she never was too far away. Terra still wasn’t sure if he had actually done anything good enough in his life to deserve her but as long as she kept smiling and laughing like she did now he wouldn’t question it.

“Well, I hope you slept well, cause it’ll be a busy day.”

“Define busy.”

“We have the meeting to determine if there’s a need to reopen the schooling element here and if the castle is suited to hold students again.” She paused for a moment, probably to stifle a yawn with the way she was breathing. “The other option being to open the castle as a sanctuary for travelers to stop on their way through the worlds. It’ll depend on many different things so it’ll probably take a good part of the day for discussions and choices.”

Terra made a snoring noise.

She swatted him on the side of his head but he felt her laughing. “Stop it,” she snorted. “You signed up for this, Master Terra.”

“Yeah, well, Master Eraqus should’ve been more upfront about how many meetings I’d have to sit through when I was a kid.”

“He knew better than that.”

Terra laughed as she gently started to play with her hair again. He may’ve joked but this was the only life he ever really wanted. For a while there it didn’t seem like this would ever be possible yet here he was. He’d go through a million meetings if she was sitting next to him.

She wasn’t wrong through. They were standing on the brink of another life changing event. If they decided there were enough kids being able to summon keyblades again then the school would open its gates once more. There would be new responsibilities as both teachers and heads of the worlds that would be thrown at them. They wouldn’t be the only ones since they weren’t the only masters who even lived here. Riku and Kairi both agreed to be willing to stay here to teach where Ven and Sora preferred to be out in the field to explore and help people; though both were willing to commit part time should they be needed. Lea and Roxas were more conflicted, not sure anyone would want to learn from them and the other half of their family and friends lived in Twilight Town. On the other hand if the castle would function as a space for weary keyblade wielders to rest then not much would change really.

“How much time do we have?” he asked, really not wanting to move yet.

“Depends,” she said. “What time we need to be there, or what time someone will come and get us for breakfast?”

“Banking on the latter.”

She chuckled but fell silent, lacing her fingers with his hair. He pressed a kiss to the back of her head, no desire in him to be anywhere but here.

This would never be old. He lost her for so long, thinking he’d never get her back, something he’d never take for granted again. It just…was always her, and it always would be. He felt warmth fill his chest just at the thought, letting out a sigh.

Aqua twirled her fingers against him slightly, her acknowledgement she heard him.

He had come back from the brink of the worst, his hands stained with terrible things but she welcomed him home with open arms. It took time, and recovery, but it was always done in understanding and in love. It’s what it was. He loved her more than he knew how to say; even in the simplest moments, laying in his bed joking about their potentially long and boring day. He wanted to have long and boring days with her forever. He wanted her to know that.

Terra’s mind was still hazy from sleep, from the unique warmth she brought him, from the desire to just spend the rest of his life with the woman in his arms. The words were out of his mouth before he even knew it.

“Marry me.”

Aqua didn’t move, she just continued to carefully play with his hair.

He snapped his eyes open when he realized what he actually said aloud. Panic crawled up his throat so fast he had to swallow the lump that formed there. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, else but nothing came out.

Did she even hear him? Did he want her to have heard him? It wasn’t like he didn’t mean it; he knew that without a doubt. But at the same time that wasn’t exactly how he ever thought he’d ask her. He didn’t even think far enough ahead to know he didn’t have a ring or anything to give her.

She rolled over under his arm, turning so she could face him and he had to swallow hard again to face the reality of this situation.

“Is that your tactic to stay in bed longer?” she asked, a teasing look on her face.

Oh, okay, she thought he was just joking. It was a weird sense of utter relief and disappointment.

“Did it work?” he asked instead, hoping the heat in his face wasn’t as apparent as it felt.

“Almost,” she said, nudging her face up to kiss him.

That was admittedly better. He reached a hand up to her cheek, holding her there so he could kiss her back. She moved her hand down to his shoulder, fingers trailing down his arm. Aqua slid up closer, pressing herself against him. He dropped his hand to her hip, slipping under her shirt to hold her lower back firmly. The soft noise from her lips already had heat swirling in the pit of his stomach, forgetting his momentary embarrassment easily enough.

“You’re not making it easy,” he breathed as she pulled back enough to pepper her jaw with kisses.

She hummed, tracing circles on his skin while she arched her head back for him. Before he got a chance to do much more, he felt her kick his leg over her waist and push her weight into him. Terra pushed himself up on his elbows when his back hit the bed. Aqua sat up, her legs on either side of his hips, giving him a grin that took his breath away. He ran his hands up her bare legs, until he reached the hem of his shirt she was wearing.

“Maybe I don’t want to make it easy,” she said.

He reached a hand up to the back of her head, pulling her down until her lips were on his. She groaned, her hands sliding up his shirt. That was about the last of his willpower.

Until there was a loud knock at the door.

Aqua leaned her forehead against his with a sigh. Figures, he wasn’t sure why he was surprised.

“What?” Terra grunted, though he made no effort to actually move.

“You guys are taking too long,” Ven whined; which almost sounded strange since his voice was lower than it ever used to be and yet still so very Ven.

“So?” Terra asked.

“So I’m hungry.”

“You’re plenty capable of making your own food, Ventus.”

“How dare you deprive me a chance to have breakfast with my two favorite people.”

“You burnt the food you tried to cook didn’t you?”

Ven paused. “In my defense, I listened to Lea.”

Aqua chuckled as she tilted her head to press a quick kiss to Terra’s lips before she untangled herself from the blankets, to slip off the bed. “We’ll be right there, Ven.”

Terra reached up to rub at his face. He didn’t even have to have kids of his own to understand what it felt like to be a parent.

It was quiet outside but there also weren’t any footsteps walking away.

“Yes?” Aqua asked as she slipped on the leggings she had been wearing the night before.

“I don’t trust you.”

She rolled her eyes enough to make Terra try not to laugh. She grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door open, revealing Ven standing there with one hand slapped over his eyes. It was strange to see Ven taller than Aqua; a part of Terra always thought Ven would stay small but it wasn’t the truth. Growing up is what kids did.

“You’re being so dramatic, shoo,” she said, pushing him lightly into the hall. “I’m coming.” She looked back to Terra who still hadn’t moved. “We’re coming.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, kicking his legs over the edge of the bed to push himself up.

Aqua was poking at Ven in the side to get him to start moving. Yet it was clear by the way he was laughing and swatting her away without actually walking, he was waiting for Terra to come too. He ran his hand through his hair as he stood up, stretching his arms over his head. Ven had started trying to tickle Aqua back, which she was always very weak to, her laugh ringing through the hallway as she tried to get him to stop.

Despite being pulled out of bed somewhat against his will, he still felt a smile on his lips. His own words rang in his head; that was the only laugh he needed to hear for the rest of his life. Next time he’d actually be prepared and ask her right.

Destiny Island really was beautiful. Not only for the tropical trees, the familiar star shaped fruit, the warm ocean air, but also the waterfall splashing into the blue sea, the white sand that never got too hot. Then there was the vibrant sunset that would set over the horizon casting the most stunning colors Terra had ever seen. Romance admittedly wasn’t his strongest point, but he figured a sunset on the beach was a good place to start.

Now if he could only stop feeling like he was going to possibly vomit on the soft sand it might make it a little better.

He could hear the laughter behind him, the others either playing on the beach or snacking on the food that laid around. It wasn’t anything to celebrate really, just another year of lives lived to the fullest. It became a loose tradition to spend a day on the beach together at least once a year. It was a day when no one had to work or were traveling or too busy; just time to relax with the people you loved really.

Terra watched the waves crash against the beach as he sat in the sand, just out of the water’s reach. The breeze was both warm and cool at the same time, the salty air reminding him of all the times he came here; including the very first time. Riku and Sora were near babies and now they had been to hell and back. Well, they all had Terra supposed.

If he would’ve turned around he knew he’d see Ven hanging from one of the tree branches while Kairi tried to throw food up at him so he could catch it in his mouth. Lea would be lounging nearby, usually never too far from the food. Isa probably sitting up listening to both Xion and Sora exclaim stories Isa heard a million times but would never say otherwise. Riku and Roxas sparring with old wooden swords on the beach while Namine watched on from the sidelines. Aqua would be nearby braiding flowers into the younger girl’s blonde hair.

While the people who visited changed as time went on as they grew from children to young adults, the island never changed. It was still the same ocean, same beach, same feeling of peace, same tropical flowers, same bridges, and the same star shaped that grew on the trees here. Its legend was where Aqua got the idea for their wayfinders, something that helped them all when they needed it the most. He figured it was about as good of a place as any to tell the person you loved you wanted to be with them forever. It was pretty and symbolic, that was romantic right?

Terra didn’t feel particularly romantic; in fact most of the others - including Aqua - had spent most the day asking him what was wrong. Guesses ranged from eating something that made him feel sick to coming down with some sort of fever, but really he just didn’t know how to do this. He wanted to, that wasn’t the issue, it was coming up with something good enough to say that actually expressed how he felt about her. He didn’t even know if he had the right words. A part of him really wished he had talked to Ven first, he was much better at this sort of stuff. Then again the reason Terra didn’t tell Ven was because then Aqua would know before Terra even got a chance. Secrets weren’t Ven’s strong point.

The wind blew off the waves, making Terra’s hair blow around. It was long enough that he could pull it back a little which provided at least some relief from the heat of the island. He sighed as he watched the colors from the sunset illuminate the skies. It really was beautiful.

He heard footsteps in the sand behind him, but one side glance at long legs told him who it was. Aqua sat herself down next to him, already wearing a sweater over her shirt and shorts to keep her warm as the heat of the sun started to fade.

“Hi,” she said, leaning her head down against his shoulder.

“Hey.” He leaned his head over hers while she snaked her hands around his upper arm. Terra almost wanted to close his eyes and just fall asleep. “All done making sure the kids don’t accidentally kill each other?”

“That’s a full time job so they’re on their own now.”

He snorted, a smile pulling at his lips despite his heart nearly feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest. The sunset was going on, everyone was distracted. Aqua was with him now and he could feel the small wooden box he made in his pocket; it was as best as it was going to get.

“Is something bothering you, Terra?” she asked, her voice a little softer than before.

“Ah, no, not at all. Today has been really nice.” Of course, Aqua would always notice if he was acting any different than the normal way he did. It was nearly impossible to pull anything over her eyes.

She lifted her head, making him turn to look at her. Her forehead was a little furrowed, like she was worried. “You just seemed distant, or upset.”

He reached a hand up to rub at the wrinkles, making her laugh instead. “I’m fine, don’t worry so much. I’d tell you if something was wrong.”

Aqua was still smiling as she considered his words and seemed to believe him in the least. “Okay.” She looked back ahead, leaning her head on his shoulder again. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Very,” he said though it wasn’t so much in reference to the sunset, but the reflection of the sunset in her face.

“I could live here.”

“Like right here on the beach? Just set up a room and a bed right here?”

She swatted at his arm. “You know what I mean.”

“Is that really what you want?” he asked. “To live here near the beach?”

Aqua paused for a second, a small sigh falling from her lips. “No, it’s nice to visit but I love our home more.”

His throat felt a little dry as he knew he had a lead in here. Okay, it was okay, he was pretty sure she’d say yes, so he had nothing to worry about. Right? Though he supposed if she wasn’t ready she could say no.

Oh yeah, that thought process didn’t help him feel better in the least.

“Ah, yeah, me too.”

She hummed but didn’t say anything else, eyes just watching the sun start to sink below the horizon.

“It wouldn’t really matter though,” he breathed. “Anywhere with you is home.”

“Oh, that was pretty smooth.”

“Thank you,” he snorted;. She was the one person he never had to worry about having a conversation with, so why should this be any different? “It’s true though. Any place, any time, doesn’t matter.”

She started to trace some circles on his arm as she lifted her head, eyes looking to him with that soft smile of hers on her face. “Me too.” Maybe she knew, he couldn’t really tell. It was possible she’d know what he was trying to say without having to say it.

Terra shifted slightly, trying to make his pocket easier to get to without being obvious about it. “Do you remember when we were kids? And we had to study all those old traditions?”

Aqua nodded slowly, like she was a little unsure what he was getting at but was still being encouraging about it.

“You told me about weddings and I told you it sounded gross.”

She laughed aloud, recognition in her eyes. “Yes, you were so insistent.”

“I was ten, what did you expect?” he asked, unable to keep the laughter that bubbled up in him down. Maybe that was the nerves too; just a few more words, that’s all he needed. “I still said if I had to pick anyone, I’d marry you.”

She didn’t move or blink, eyes just watching him. His hand was nearly shaking as he tried to reach for his pocket, the words he said in his head a million times on the tip of his tongue.

Until he suddenly felt a torrent of water dump down over his head.

He froze. His hair was sticking down onto his face, and shirt and shorts already seeping with water. Even the sand under him was sticky with the excess water. Aqua gasped as she moved to quickly push her now wet hair from her face. He felt disoriented for a moment, but the hysterical laughter snapped him out of his surprise real quick.

Terra reached up to brush his sopping wet bangs from his face, turning around just in time to see Xion and Sora quickly toss empty buckets off to the side, with Roxas looking none too innocent behind them. All three of them were still laughing but slowly backing away like they knew what was probably coming.

It was impossible to be mad looking at their gleeful eyes as they laughed without a care in the world. Even though they just interrupted something he had been trying to get the courage to do all damn day. There was a time when these kids couldn’t be kids; they couldn’t laugh so freely and they couldn’t be teenagers. Terra could never get mad at them for just being happy to live life. That was all he was doing after all.

“It was their idea,” Xion snickered.

“What?! It was not!” Sora said, reaching over to push at her. “Entirely my idea.”

“Entirely,” Roxas repeated with a snort.

Aqua huffed as she shook her hands to get the excess water off. She didn’t look mad either, in fact she looked like she was going to start laughing at any second in pride of them being able to sneak up so soundly. “Ready then?” she asked, and he didn’t have to question what she meant.

Terra pushed himself to his feet. “You better hope you’re fast.”

The three cried out as they turned to run along the beach.

Terra reached a hand down to help Aqua up, before letting his feet slide in the sand to chase after them. She was on his heels, running just as fast.

He had been trying to pick the perfect time and moment, with the best setting. But as the kids ducked under one of the bridges, pushing each other alone while they laughed Terra thought maybe he didn’t need to pick the right moment. It would just happen when it was supposed to. Aqua was laughing next to him as the sun almost disappeared into the ocean, the stars and moon popping up in the sky. Ven was shouting out condolences to the trio who were still running away. It was still a good day, and would be a good night. Everything could still wait, time wasn’t an issue anymore.

For now, he had some teenagers to throw in the water.

VI.

There was nothing like the night sky in the Land of Departure. Terra could go to a million different worlds and the stars would never compare. He supposed he was biased though; he spent his whole life looking up at the stars with Aqua. Then Ven a little later on, and then the kids who would come to visit or stay with them here.

Sometimes he’d watch them from his room, sometimes from Aqua’s room when he had snuck in late at night, sometimes from the training areas on the cliff, or the windows of the library. But he thought his favorite might be from the fields in the summer time, when the nights were warm and the grass was green and fresh. From there it was almost like there was nothing but sky and stars. Again he could be biased since Aqua was currently sitting in front of him, nestled between his legs as her back rested up against his chest. He was leaning back slightly, hands propped up in the grass behind him as he watched a shooting star shoot across the sky.

“There was one,” she said, pointing upwards. “Did you see it?”

“Yeah, I did. What number is that now?”

She leaned her head back against his shoulder, her hair tickling his nose. “Three,” she sighed but even from his angle he could see the smile on her face as the moonlight reflected in it.

“Did you make all your wishes?” He tried not to yawn, knowing if he did she’d want to back inside but it was a long exhausting day so he knew he didn’t do a very good job hiding how tired he was. Still, the peace outside with just her was relaxing; he didn’t want to leave yet.

“Couldn’t tell you if I did.”

“I think Master told us wishes don’t come true if you tell someone else, so he’d have a break from us telling him how much we wanted to be keyblade masters.”

Aqua chuckled. “That isn’t the only thing I wished for.”

“Oh yeah? What else did you wish for then?”

She turned her head to look over to him. “This.”

“What?”

Aqua shrugged. “Even when I was younger, I wished for a time when we could sit under the stars and not have to worry about anything else.”

Terra pushed himself up, moving his hands to wrap around her waist, making her giggle when her pressed his cheek to hers. “So even when you were a kid you had a crush on me, huh?”

“Stop it,” she snorted, reaching a hand up to push his face away. “You already knew that.”

“Yeah, can’t say I didn’t wish for the same thing once upon a time.”

“Ohh?” she said a little sing-songy “Terra had a crush on a girl.”

He squeezed her making her laugh again. “I did, even though she drove me crazy sometimes.”

“Only sometimes?”

“I’m being very generous.”

Aqua chuckled as she leaned her head against his, a small sigh on her lips. It was quiet for a moment; just the sound of the crickets, the wind in the grass, the animals in the forest hidden from view.

“Terra, are you happy?”

At first he thought he didn’t hear her right. “What? Of course I am. This is what we always wanted.”

She shrugged, clearly not convinced enough with his answer. “I know, but we didn’t quite get here how we thought we would.” Aqua paused for a moment. “And they were childhood dreams, people change as they get older. Dreams change sometimes.”

“Have they changed for you?”

“No, no,” she said. “They never have. I’m happy, I’m very happy, but I want you to be too.”

It was a simple question really; making sure the person you loved was happy with life. Yet it was such an Aqua thing to worry about. He almost wondered how long it had taken her to actually ask him. It would be easy to answer her, to reassure her that he was happy here with their lives. He was, that wasn’t even a question in his mind, but the weight in his pocket was suddenly heavy, reminding him of its presence.

He waited and waited for the moment that would strike him the most; even taking the ring from the box so it wasn’t quite as obvious what he kept with him. This time though he found he wasn’t even nervous as he reached for the ring, pulling it out until he could hold between his fingers in front of them.

“My dreams have never changed,” he said.

She didn’t say anything, she just watched the way the small jewel caught the moonlight.

“Aqua?”

She made some sort of choked noise he assumed was her trying to answer him.

“Will you marry me?”

This time the noise was almost more like a choked cry, but she was nodding her head. “Yes, yes, of course.”

It seemed his nerves kicked in the last second nearly fumbling the ring. “What, really?”

“Yes, really, dummy,” she laughed, reaching one hand up to rub at her eyes. “I love you.”

Careful not to drop it in the dark field where Ven would absolutely never let Terra live down, he slid the ring on her finger. He didn’t even really have time to process what happened before Aqua turned in his arms. She wrapped hers around him so tightly she knocked him off balance, falling backwards into the soft grass.

Aqua pushed herself up, watching him with a smile he always got used to as one for him, eyes glistening in the moonlight. Terra didn’t always know what his path was, if he’d make the right choices if he’d make the wrong choices. This one, this one he knew was right.

“I love you too.”

She leaned down to kiss him as he reached his hand up through her hair. In that moment he thought even a million years wouldn’t be enough to tell her how much she meant to him. Since the day a six year old, blue haired girl walked in through the doors of the castle and taught him what it was like to have a friend, a companion, and a partner.

Terra was still more than willing to try.

#terraqua #terraqua day #kingdom hearts fanfic #kingdom hearts #teraqua #my fics:kh #canonversekh

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Still I Find You There Next to Me

Pairings: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: A month after the ending of Kingdom Hearts 3; No explicit spoilers but I mean you can infer what happens at the end if you read this haha

Rating: K+

Notes: Happy Valentine’s Day <3 I had to write something cute, and I’ve had this idea with the phones and social media in my head since I found out it was canon hahaha I was going to keep it all fluffy and not really go into the healing aspects of what needs to happen after 3 but alas, I couldn’t help it haha I think they’d need a lot of time, so that reflects here (but it’s also me so you know it’s still sappy as hell) I’ll do a real healing fic eventually, figures my first Post-3 fic would be about essentially their Instagram. The title is from Imagine Dragon’s “Next to Me” which is one of my favorite, favorite songs for them <3

AO3

Even though Terra considered himself to be more asleep than awake he could still hear the birds chirping outside his window, he could feel the sunlight on his eyes as it shone in through the window. His blanket was making him feel a little hotter than what was a comfortable temperature, another sure sign summer was coming in full force. Still, it wasn’t enough to make him want to open his eyes, or leave his bed any time soon.

He probably wouldn’t have either if it wasn’t for the sudden annoying buzzing that was rattling against his nightstand.

Terra groaned as he reached a hand to his face rubbing his eyes. It thankfully stopped, making him try and fall back to sleep even though it was probably later than he should be in bed. He usually just waited till someone was too impatient to wait for him and either knocked on his door, gently kicked him, or jumped on him depending who the impatient one was that day. His eyes were still so heavy he knew he could fall asleep again, and he planned to.

Until the buzzing echoed once more.

He rolled over, still half asleep but noticed the other side of the bed was empty; not that he was surprised, he would’ve gotten some kicks or nudges by now. Terra tried not to feel sinking disappointment, swinging his hand to the night stand to grab the phone he knew was sitting there. He blinked his eyes open, looking at the screen as he tried to adjust to the growing sunlight in the room. Terra could see the new messages icon and he pressed it though he mostly wanted to toss the phone back down.

He saw Aqua’s picture next to way too much text to comprehend in his state of still being half asleep. From what he could tell it was just the plans for the day; who was here, who was away, if there was anything urgent they needed to get to within the day. It ended with another message asking him to wake up already. He snorted as he dropped the phone in his lap, reaching both his hands up to his face.

It was silly she felt the need to send him a message when she literally slept in the room across from his, and when the night was a little too dark, his. It happened more often than not these days, to the point where he missed seeing her face when it wasn’t the first thing he saw in the morning. One hallway didn’t seem very far away; it never did when they were kids, finding ways to pass notes, communicate without words so Master Eraqus didn’t wake up and catch them, always knowing where the other was. But it did when he still felt like if he blinked she’d be gone.

He sighed as he pushed himself up in bed. She could’ve just gotten him, but she was hell bent on making him use this thing. He picked it up again, scrolling quickly through all the little pictures near the text box to pick the thumbs up to send back to her. Close enough right?

Terra dropped the phone again stretching his arms over his head as he kicked his legs out of bed. He almost left the damn thing sitting there, but it was still too early to get lectured by Aqua on why having ways to communicate like that was important. He supposed he understood that concept, after all he did like knowing he could reach any of them in a matter of seconds, that he could scroll down and see pictures from where the kids were, what they were up to. Terra just didn’t want to be the one constantly being bugged with it; especially when someone lived in the same home as he did.

He grabbed the phone and slid it in his pajama pocket, making his way to open his door and out into the hallway that would lead to the staircase. The castle was so familiar it was almost like they never left. It was admittedly really eerie at first and Terra found himself staying up late at night, unable to bring himself to sleep. But it got better when Aqua would come and talk to him as they slowly mended what had been hurt, when more feet and voices filled the otherwise empty rooms, when she started falling asleep next to him, making it easy to sleep through any night knowing she was safe.

He walked into the empty dining hall, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise. The table was too long for the few people that lived here; they only every used it if many others were visiting but that settled down significantly once everyone got accustomed to their lives. So they preferred the smaller table they set up right in the kitchen which judging by how the room smelled someone already started cooking.

He had two guesses, but judging by the messages on his phone one was highly favoring the other.

Terra pushed open the kitchen door, his stomach growling at the sudden aroma of bacon mixed with fresh coffee grounds, toasting bread, as eggs sizzled on the oven. He expected it to be Aqua standing in the kitchen and he wasn’t wrong. Her back was to him as she poked at the bacon, but he could tell she was still in her pajamas, apron tied around her back just like the one she used to wear on her cooking days. He found himself smiling even despite being up before he wanted to be.

“Morning,” he said, closing the door behind him so he didn’t scare her.

Aqua turned her head, a smile already on her lips. Her eyes were bright this morning, probably because she was always happier when she was able to do something for someone else, this case making breakfast. He loved it, he loved seeing her like this; it was one of the reasons he did keep getting up every morning. If she still looked at him like that, than he couldn’t be as horrible of a person as he thought he was sometimes.

“Morning, sunshine,” she said, that teasing tone on her lips, just like when they were younger. “Sleep in enough?”

Terra walked over to the counter in the center of the kitchen, leaning up against it so he could face her better. “Yeah, would’ve slept in more if I hadn’t been assaulted with blocks of text first thing in the morning.”

Aqua chuckled, scooping some of the bacon onto a nearby plate to cool. “It was that or send Ven after you.”

Ven was a big fan of tackling Terra awake, which wasn’t annoying as much as it was alarming depending how deep of a sleep Terra was in; and sometimes painful, Ven seemed to be growing nonstop since they came home.

Terra felt his stomach knot up slightly. He probably shouldn’t say; they didn’t really talk about it once the sun was up but the words were already on his lips. “I, um, didn’t hear you leave this morning.”

She hummed, but was moving to scramble the eggs better. “I knew it was my turn to cook breakfast, so I figured I’d get a head start. Plus when you sleep, you sleep like the dead. Believe it or not I did try, to see if you wanted to help me, but I figured it was better to let you sleep.”

That did make some of the tension leave his body; sometimes he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d do something to push her away again. But the more reasonable part of his brain tried to remind him she did have to cook breakfast for a few people or that she never liked to wake him up when he fell asleep or that she didn’t want the kids to get the wrong impression. Granted, he was never quite sure how to tell her judging by their glances and snickers they already had the wrong impression.

“So you thought waking me up by having the phone nearly vibrate off the table was better?”

“You have to get used to using it someday, Ter. Also…” Aqua turned to him, placing one hand on her hip as she waved the fork in her other hand at him. “Can you respond with more than just one thumbs up? That doesn’t tell me anything.”

Terra snorted. “I assumed it told you I was fine with it.”

“I would, if I thought you read it.”

“I did read it.”

Aqua arched her eyebrows, though she looked more amused than mad.

“Okay, I skimmed it.”

“That’s what I thought,” she chuckled, turning back to remove more bacon from the sizzling pan. “If you couldn’t tell from your brief overview, we do have a busy day.”

“Got it.” The smell in the kitchen was starting to get unbearable; he didn’t realize how hungry he was until he had to stand there not eating anything.

Aqua reached up to the cabinet to get a plate for the first batch of eggs while Terra leaned in to grab a piece of bacon. It shouldn’t have surprised him she was fast enough to swat his hand away before he could actually touch the food. “Be patient,” she tutted, scooping the eggs onto the plate before getting the pan ready for the next set.

He took the plate from her hands, moving the place it on the counter near him so he could hand it to her again when she was ready for it.

“I don’t know why you’re so resistant on having the phone,” Aqua said, adding even more bacon to the pan which really didn’t help his stomach from growling.

He noticed she had the oven on too which meant there was also something she was baking. Gods, he hoped it was that cinnamon bread she used to make; it was just the right amount mix of sweet and doughy. “I’m not resistant to it.” It was mostly true. “I just don’t see why we need to use it when we’re in the same house. Away on missions sure, but not when we’re a staircase away.”

“Convenience,” she said, wiping her fingers on her apron. “I’m cooking I couldn’t leave the food to come up and tell you all that. Also I know you and if I tried to give you all that information while you were still half asleep you’d never remember it. Now it’s there for you when you’re ready.”

Those were valid points; figures, Aqua always thought out everything. That was probably why she liked it so much, she was a lot more organized than he admittedly was. “Fine, you win. It can have its uses.”

Aqua turned her head to him, giving him a grin that reminded him of when they used to spend all day outside adventuring in the forests, of the stories they told each other late at night under the stars, it reminded him of home. This was his home, with her, it would always be with her.

She gestured for the plate again and Terra had to remember where he was and what he was doing. He reached for it, passing it to her, but her other hand was at his lips, holding up a piece of bacon. Aqua took the plate while he took the bacon, biting into it with a crunch. She lingered for a moment, watching him with the same smile on her lips. Maybe after everything they went through, both during those twelve years and the weeks after, maybe she could feel what he felt; the reminders of the past as they lived their lives together again but new in a way, different, better even. He might’ve even asked her if the door hadn’t swung open.

“Morning, Masters!” Xion smiled as she waved both her hands at them.

He probably wouldn’t have asked Aqua, but there was a part of him that wanted to. Maybe that alone was a sign of improvement; that he even felt good enough to even want to know how she really felt.

“Good morning,” Aqua said, scooping the eggs onto the plate to pass back to Terra.

He glanced over to the door as he popped the rest of his bacon in his mouth, raising his hand in a silent greeting to both Xion and Roxas, who was trailing behind and looking significantly less perky than Xion did.

The toaster dinged as they pulled out seats from the small table.

Aqua looked over to Terra probably to ask if he could get it but he was already moving that way. He grabbed a plate off the counter and pulled the hot toast out. They were still a little short, so they’d need to toast more. As if reading his mind, Aqua tossed him the bag of bread she had near her. He caught it, setting to the new task.

It was hard at first, when they came home. Terra was afraid too much damage was done, that he and Aqua would never operate how they used to, how they knew to read each other so well words weren’t always needed, the trust that came with that. It took a little bit, but every day he felt his relationship with her improve and that was enough to be thankful for.

Once he pressed the toaster on again he turned back to Aqua, but she was busy humming to herself as she cooked up more eggs and bacon. He vaguely recognized the tune but he couldn’t place it. Instead he looked over to Roxas and Xion who were lounging at the table while they waited. She was showing Roxas something on her phone, her voice quiet but still pretty peppy for the hour. Roxas on the other hand had his head on the table as he sleepily tried to follow what she was saying.

Boy, wasn’t that a familiar image.

“Please tell me breakfast is ready.” The door swung open, though it was always hard to miss Lea any time he made his entrance. He was also still in his pajamas, his read hair tied back for the time being.

“Morning to you too,” Terra snorted.

“I mean it as my most sincere good morning, especially to the beautiful chef.” He reached over to rub at both Roxas and Xion’s heads. “Morning, squirts.”

Roxas grunted in response while Xion laughed looking up from her phone as Lea flopped down in the chair across from them. That only left one judging by Aqua’s message of who was here today.

“Terra, would you mind?” Aqua asked, holding out the plate of eggs.

“Got it.” He grabbed it moving to place it on the table. “Would one of you mind setting the table?”

“I can,” Xion said, placing her phone down so she could stand up.

Terra reached over her head to grab the plate of bacon Aqua was holding out to him; though not before slipping another piece in his mouth.

“I saw that,” Aqua said, though she wasn’t looking at him, opening the oven door to check on whatever was in there.

“Where’s blondie?” Lea asked, stretching his arms over his head.

“His door was still closed when we walked by,” Roxas said, though his head was on the table so it was a little mumbled.

The oven went off as Aqua pulled out the bread pan that was in there, the sweet but spicy smell of cinnamon filling the air. She left it on the oven top to cool but she must’ve seen him watching her because she looked over to him.

“What?” she asked. “Didn’t think I remember?”

It was an innocent comment but it made a smile pull at his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, anything about how it meant a lot she remembered but the toaster dinged and Xion was scurrying around him with a stack of plates and glasses. There were only three more people on a daily basis, even more than that on the days the other kids visited; still, the extra people caused a new level of chaos sometimes.

He reached over to pull out the toast dropping it on the plate with the others.

“Sorry, am I late?” Ven yawned, though Terra hadn’t even heard Ven come in the room.

“As per usual,” Lea said.

When Terra turned back to plate the plate of toast on the table Ven was sitting down, another yawn on his lips as Lea reached up to push at Ven’s head.

“Where’s Chirithy, Ven?” Aqua asked, scooping the steaming bread from the pan.

“Sleeping,” he answered. “Like I wish I still was.”

“You’re all so dramatic. It’s not that early.”

“Says you,” Terra snorted, reaching for the plate that had the newly sliced bread on it.

Aqua pulled it away from him, a knowing look in her eyes. “It won’t make it to the table if I let you take it.” She gestured to the fridge instead as she moved around him to get to where everyone was already sitting.

He rolled his eyes but she still knew what she meant. He reached in to grab the glass of orange juice, as well as the jam and butter; at least by the time he turned back to the table it was time to eat. He placed the items down and took the empty seat at the end.

Coffee, why didn’t he think of making any? He needed that more than ever if this day was going to be as long as Aqua said it was. He pushed himself away, about to stand up when a steaming mug was placed down in front of him. Terra looked up as Aqua sat down next to him, placing her own coffee in front of her; the only difference being his was black and hers probably had enough sugar to wake up everyone in this room.

“Thanks,” he said, unable to keep from feeling the smile from pulling at his lips.

Aqua hummed in response but the small smile was all he needed.

“Pass the orange juice, please,” Ven asked as Xion was done pouring hers.

“Only if you pass the jam.”

“Got it!”

“Hey, Rox, lift your head, you’re drooling on the table,” Lea said, and judging by the way the table shifted slightly also must’ve nudged Roxas in the legs.

“Coffee, first,” he said, but did pick up his head, hand weakly reaching for some bacon.

“What? Wanna stay shortstuff your whole life?”

“I’m not short! You’re unnaturally tall.”

“Everyone eat the eggs too,” Aqua said as she pulled her phone from her pajama pants pocket, placing it on the table next to her plate.

Terra leaned back with his coffee, opting to wait for the kids to fill up their plates; he didn’t need to lose any fingers today. Aqua seemed to do the same, taking careful sips from her mug as she watched on.

“Don’t you dare eat all of that bread,” Terra said seeing Lea take more than one piece.

Ven snickered while he piled some eggs on his plate to appease Aqua. “Terra is serious when it comes to Aqua’s baking.”

Xion giggled into her orange juice glass and Terra tried to ignore the heat rising to his face at being called out by teenagers.

He cleared his throat instead, noticing Aqua was watching him from the corner of her eyes. “You’ve eaten plenty of things she’s baked, do you blame me?”

Ven paused for a second, just long enough for Roxas to reach over and steal a piece of bacon off Ven’s plate. “Hey!” he snorted. “Get your own.”

“Roxas, please eat something other than bacon,” Aqua tried again, but he listened, reaching for a piece of toast and eyeing the jam still in Xion’s hands.

Terra’s phone buzzed in his pocket, making him reach in to pull it out as everyone who regularly needed his attention was sitting at this table. He glanced at the screen though it wasn’t really anything, just a late notification that Xion posted a picture to their group feed. It usually wasn’t anything serious, just people updating each other with what they were doing or where they were.

Since the kids were still digging into the food, he tapped on the screen, opening the feed up. Xion’s post was from a little earlier, the sunrise outside her window. She had some sweet words to say at the bottom about how pretty it was. Since he had nothing else to while he waited he let his thumb scroll down the screen bringing up more pictures.

Aqua’s hands were near his plate, placing a piece of bread there. Terra looked up to thank her but she was already gathering food for herself. He placed the mug down and replaced it with the warm bread that tasted as good as it smelt. He tried to focus on the pictures he scrolled by like Kairi taking a selfie with Riku in Radiant Garden as they worked on their mission or Lea posting a picture of Roxas passed out on the couch last night teasing him about his particularly long training day or Isa tagging his friends in a selfie with that ice cream they adored probably to make them jealous or Ven sharing his late night snack from last night that looked more like a repeat of dinner than a snack. But Terra found it hard not to savor the soft bread, the memories of watching Aqua bake as he sat up on the counter trying to carve something into a bit of wood. He could barely think of something that didn’t have memories attached to her, and he always knew he’d never want it to be any other way. He just wasn’t exactly sure how to say that, if he even had the right to say that.

He popped the last bit of bread in his mouth as he continued to look down at his phone, knowing it was better than letting those thoughts linger. He was about to put it down and get his own food but he stopped when he saw Aqua’s face looking back up at him from his screen. It had to have been from yesterday since she was outside with the blue sky and sun shining in the background. She had the phone tilted so she could both get herself and one of the flower gardens in it. He recognized it easily, it was the one Master Eraqus used to take care of, where he would go to relax or take them for lessons if the day was particularly nice. Aqua started to take care of it when they got back, maybe as some way to make things seem normal again at first but now judging by the smile on her face and the glimmer in her eyes it was more of a pleasurable thing for her. Clearly, she was proud of her work.

Terra made a note to go out there next time she was working and make sure he complimented her on it, but for now he pressed his thumb against the button that would add another like to the ones that were already there under her picture. He didn’t usually interact even that much, just choosing to look when he felt like it but for her, he made an exception.

His plate slid closer to him, this time with much more food on it. Terra placed his phone down with just enough time to see her hands moving back to her own food. “Thanks,” he said, reaching for the first piece of bacon he saw.

Aqua was carefully eating her eggs but she waved him off, eyes drifting to her phone as it lit up.

The kids were still talking amongst themselves, Roxas looking at least a little more alive now that he was nearly done with his toast, watching the uneaten bread on Lea’s plate and clearly trying to gauge if he would catch Roxas taking it or not. Ven was at least attempting to eat the eggs as he held his phone up in his other hand, eyes reading over something.

Aqua’s fork hit the plate a little too loudly making Terra look back to her, making sure everything was okay. She seemed to be alright as she looked at her screen, but her eyes were wide before a smile started to pull at her lips. He almost wanted to know what she was looking at with the way her smile was so soft, eyes bright in what seemed like a sort of adoration. Terra didn’t want to nose into her business, but he did happen to see the picture he was just looking at on her phone. Maybe she got a nice comment or something, which was good; he wanted to see her happy like that all the time.

Even as he watched her he still couldn’t believe after everything she went through, the things she suffered she still could manage to to smile like that, to have her face light up at the simplest things. Yet here she was a ray of sunshine in every room she went, making him believe that everything would be okay again. He wasn’t even sure he had a word to describe how beautiful of a person she was, how she always was. Even though it had been in the heat of the moment, and the height of every emotion he had felt, he meant what he said the first time he saw her again; he couldn’t remember a time she wasn’t the brightest light in his life.

Terra didn’t realize the kids went quiet till Ven started choking back his laughter. Terra glanced away from Aqua but no one was looking at him. He went back to grab the buttered toast on his plate, taking a bite out of it as Ven was placing his phone back on the table. He was absolutely trying hard not to laugh, which was suspicious in its own right, but maybe someone just sent him something funny.

Lea had his phone up to his face, eating another piece of bacon while Roxas made the dive for the cinnamon bread; not fast enough as Lea quickly hit Roxas’ hand making the blond retreat with a groan. “Well,” Lea said, placing his phone back down. “Nice knowing you, Ven, you had a good life.”

Xion had one hand over her mouth as she stared at her own screen, though she was grinning. “Ven,” she gasped.

“What?” he asked, trying to look innocent but instead he looked like he was about to burst into hysterics. “I’m not wrong.”

“What did you do?” Terra asked, arching his eyebrows.

Ven merely shook his head. “Nothing.”

Roxas peered over to Xion’s phone, choking when he saw whatever they were all looking at. “Holy shit, you’re going to get killed.”

“Roxas,” Aqua warned, but it lacked any sort of force probably because she was more curious as to what Ven did.

Terra always found it a little funny when she corrected any of the kids’ harsher language since she was the one who used to curse the most in training. His phone vibrated next to him so he took another bite of his toast before looking over. Terra probably should’ve known better when he saw Ven tagged Terra in a picture but he still opened it up anyways. He figured it was maybe just something stupid, some funny joke poking fun as Ven was known to do.

Terra bit into the last bit of his toast just in time to see his own face, same clothes he was wearing right now, plate still full of food. It had to have only been taken moments ago since his eyes were still watching Aqua. She looked the same as she did when she was staring at her phone, smile and bright eyes even visible in the picture. What he hadn’t noticed, what made him ultimately choke on the bread he was trying to eat, was the way he was looking at her. If he thought she was watching her phone was adoration it was nothing to how he was looking at her, complete with the sappiest smile Terra wasn’t even aware he was capable of making.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the caption was.

@terra hasn’t stopped looking at her like that since we got home :P

Terra wanted to snap his head up and tell Ventus that absolutely wasn’t the truth, but in all honesty it probably was. Terra did lift his head trying desperately to ignore the heat that was crawling up to every crevice of his face only to see Ven shoveling the rest of his food into his mouth.

“I get the shower first!” he said, effectively booking out the room as fast as he could. Smart kid.

Terra was pretty sure he couldn’t look at Aqua now even if he wanted to but he was aware she was still looking at her phone.

“You sure you and Ven aren’t related?” Lea asked, breaking the other piece of cinnamon on bread in half.

“Yes, why?” Terra said, clearing his throat so that his voice actually came out.

“Cause he’s about as close to as an annoying little sibling as you can get.”

“How would you know?” Xion asked.

Lea passed the other half of the bread to Roxas, who happily took it, before Lea leaned in as he stood up from the table. “Cause I have two of them.”

Xion and Roxas made some whining noises, though his was a little more muffled.

Lea gave them a wink before heading to the door. “See you in a little bit,” he said waving absent mindedly, the other two scrambling to follow him; probably to tease him right back.

Then it was just Terra and Aqua, and he pretty much wanted to sink right down into the ground. He didn’t really have any excuses and the explanation was something he wasn’t quite ready to address head on but he also couldn’t just sit here in awkward silence with his best friend; that was somehow worse.

He looked over to her, just as she was glancing up at him. Terra opened his mouth to say something but she didn’t really seem mad or anything. She was surprised maybe and her cheeks were also a little red, like she was embarrassed about it too.

“Ah,” he said, tapping his fingers against his legs. “I was just…wondering what you were looking at, you know…” He gestured to her phone like that explained what he was trying to say. “It seemed to make you happy.” Terra probably shouldn’t be invading her privacy if he already embarrassed her, but no other words wanted to come.

“Oh,” she squeaked slightly. She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear looking away from him. “It was just…you…well, you’ve never liked one of my pictures before. It surprised me, but it also made me happy, is all.”

Terra blinked at her. None of that was anything he was expecting, that it was something he did that made her smile like that. He spent time wondering if he missed his chance at making her happy, that he could even still do so after everything that happened but that something so small made her face light up made him feel like maybe he was wrong.

Maybe these phones weren’t as bad as he thought they were.

Even though he still felt like his stomach was in his throat he picked his phone up, finding the camera and flipping it to face him like he saw the others do. Terra leaned in slightly to her, hoping his intentions were clear.

A smile pulled at her lips, and she leaned in to meet him, her cheek so close to his he could almost feel her grin. He held the phone up, trying to find the right angle on the screen; if he was doing it poorly Aqua never told him. Terra snapped the picture and leaned back to his chair while Aqua laughed lightly.

“What are you going to do to him?” she asked.

“Oh, you’ll see.” Terra stared at the picture on his screen, both his and her faces, both smiles; happy, they looked happy. That’s all he ever wanted, was for her to have everything she wanted. He knew she made him happier than he knew how to say. If he somehow made her happy still, then he’d do so every single day until he built up his courage to tell her that she had always been his world.

Terra watched the picture as it posted to his feed.

Aqua must’ve got the notification because she snorted in laughter, eyes bright when she looked up. “I like that picture of us.”

He couldn’t help the smile on his lips, maybe it was still really sappy but he didn’t quite have it in his heart to care right now. “Me too.”

@ventus just wait till it’s your turn for training today, buddy, we’re going to make it real fun.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #terra kingdom hearts #aqua kingdom hearts #my fics:kh #canonversekh #I hope its okay ahhhhh #I wanted it to be just the phone stuff #but I also wanted to explore their healing from a place #where Terra was sure of his feelings #but unsure if he was in the standing to do anything about it #so this is what happened #and THE SOCIAL MEDIA KILLED ME #I love it I needed to write headcanons about it hahaha #kh3 #kh3 spoilers

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Your Heart is the Only Place

Pairing: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: One month after the previous chapter

Rating: K

Notes: LISTEN It’s my birthday so have some sappy sappy fluff cause what better way for me to celebrate hahaha We’re getting real close till I can finally actually write the babies! Not quite there yet, but soon. I actually like how this one came out though I was stuck on it for a little while. I just wanted a quiet moment with the Wayfinder Trio more than anything <3

Previous Chapter / AO3

7. Warmth

“And then, we got pushed right into the chalk drawing, like it came to life all around us.”

Out of the corner of Terra’s eyes he could see Ven waving his arms around frantically like that would describe adequately what was going on in his story. It didn’t, even to people who had eyes to see him, but Terra appreciated the effort Ven was going through to keep Aqua entertained.

“It almost had a strange feel to it,” Ven continued. “Like we could tell it was a world inside a world, which is I guess why we got asked to go in the first place. Something like that wasn’t heard of in other worlds so they wanted to make sure nothing was bad about it.”

“I see,” Aqua said. She sounded alert and interested to what Ven was saying but there was also a layer of exhaustion to her voice.

“Well, the only thing bad was the outfit Terra had to wear. I wish I had been smart enough to remember to take a picture to show you. You’d all probably cackle about as much as I did.”

“I think you did enough cackling for all five of us,” Terra said, trying to focus on the papers scattered over the desk but the words were blurring together. He reached up to rub his forehead, letting his eyes close for a second. How late was it?

“That’s true,” Ven snickered.

“Even though you had to wear the same outfit.”

“Yeah, but I pulled it off spectacularly.”

“Real cute, Ven,” Terra yawned. The temptation to just keep his eyes closed and fall asleep right on the desk was tempting but he forced his eyes back open to look down at the reports he was supposed to be finishing. He used to wonder what Eraqus did in his study all the times that he wasn’t teaching or training with them; Terra didn’t quite have to wonder anymore.

“I’m sure you were,” Aqua said and he didn’t even have to look to hear the amusement in her voice. “Both of you.”

That only sent Ven into a spiral of laughter again.

It was a warm night, summer coming in fiercely. Terra had the windows in his room open, the night air blowing in and hopefully taking out some of the humidity. It smelt almost like it would rain, but every time he looked the stars and the moon were clear, not a cloud in sight.

“But everything was…” She cut off with an exasperated sigh. “Ven, do you mind, getting…”

Terra turned around in his chair looking over to the bed where Aqua was trying to push herself up to sit better.

“Got it,” Ven said, leaning backwards almost off his spot on the bed to grab an extra pillow that must’ve fallen off at some point. “Here, lean up a little more.”

Aqua did as he asked while he secured the pillow behind her lower back. She sighed again when she leaned back against the pillows that were already propped up against the headboard of the bed, but this time she at least seemed a little more comfortable. “Thank you,” she said. “But everything was okay? On the mission?”

“Everything was fine,” Terra said, resting his arm on the back of his chair even though he knew the faster he got this paperwork done the faster he could go to bed. “No problems.”

“No problems at all,” Ven nodded as to support the statement. “It was fun even. Have you ever seen penguins wear suits before?”

Aqua laughed, and though it was breathy and tired, she still had a smile on her face as she looked to Ven. “Suits, really?”

“Really! They even danced.”

“Oh? Will you show me?”

Ven reached a hand to the back of his head, like he was suddenly embarrassed. “I dunno, I don’t remember.”

“Don’t be modest,” Terra said. “I’m sure you could do it off memory.”

“Hey, you’re just teasing now,” Ven huffed. “How about you do it.”

“No, Aqua already knows what a terrible dancer I am. I don’t think she needs a reminder.”

“I beg to differ,” she chuckled, though it was broken with a sharp breath, her hand fluttering down to the side of her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Ven asked, quickly leaning forward to her.

Nights like these Terra was thankful that Ven liked to hang out with them more than he liked to sleep. Aqua refused to let Terra abandon any sort of work for her, but she was also having a difficult time getting any sleep. He knew it only came with the territory; she was eight months pregnant and the bigger the babies got the more active they were at all hours of the night. Not to mention the additional strain it put on every inch of her body let alone being comfortable enough to fall asleep. When Ven was here to keep her company and look after her if she had any discomfort made Terra feel a little more at ease, even if he’d gladly leave his work any chance he got.

“Oh, nothing,” she said, though her voice was strained slightly, gesturing for Ven to give her his hand. “They just don’t seem to understand what sleep means.”

Ven let her place his hand over to the side of her stomach and he must’ve felt them moving around because his blue eyes lit up. “Not even a little bit.” Ven leaned in a little bit, rubbing his hand gently against her. “We’re going to have so much fun, you know that right?”

Terra yawned again, leaning his chin against his arm as Aqua reached her other hand up to Ven’s head, brushing some of his bangs from his face. The babies must’ve done something in reaction to his voice because he was grinning as he looked up to Aqua.

“I think they do,” Aqua said.

Ven gave her another quick few taps before he flopped down on his back on the bed “Since it’s so close now, what do you think of the genders? Staying the same? Changed at all?”

“You’re only asking because I know you guys have a bet going,” Terra snorted.

Ven placed a hand on his chest, looking a little outraged. “Excuse me, how dare you think I’d profit on my future nieces or nephews.”

Terra arched his eyebrows.

“And because we all know I’m going to win so it’s pointless to discuss that fact.”

“That’s what I thought.” Terra glanced over to Aqua who was laughing slightly but was also already watching him. She didn’t say anything about him essentially abandoning his paperwork but it was also like…

He glanced to the clock in the corner of the room. It was already nearing two o’clock in the morning, so maybe she already understood he probably wasn’t finishing it tonight.

“I’m still the same,” Aqua said, tapping her fingers absent mindedly. “I think its girls. I couldn’t tell you why, I always thought it was a girl before I found out there were two so I figure there could be two just as easily.

“I know I probably should listen to you,” Terra said.

Aqua got this look on her face, which despite her exhaustion was so familiar a teasing face he saw countless times. “When have you ever?”

Ven clapped his hands over his mouth trying not to laugh.

“Yeah, yeah.” Terra rolled his eyes, even though he was just happy that she felt well enough to still have that personality of hers he loved so much. “I’m only saying I remember how I was as a kid, only boys could cause you as much trouble and annoyance as they have.”

“He has a fair point,” Ven said.

“Well what about you then,” Aqua said, reaching over to push lightly at his head.

“The best of both worlds, a boy and a girl.”

“Why?” Terra asked, more curious than accusing. It was reasonable enough he supposed, and it’s not like he never thought about it either but Ven sounded so sure in the fact that there had to be some reasoning behind it.

“Because, you guys were like meant to be together,” he said. “I always knew that before I even knew that I knew that, so I think it would be destiny’s way of…I dunno, making things right after things went wrong for so long.”

Okay, well, that wasn’t quite what Terra was expecting but still felt a smile on his lips; both from the sentiment and from how mature Ven sounded when he said it. Sometimes it was hard to realize how much he grew up, that he wasn’t that scared little boy any more, that he was ready to be a master in his own right but Terra found himself more proud than sad.

“That’s sweet, Ven,” Aqua said, her eyes looking a little watery. “I like that.”

He waved her off slightly, be the smile from the approval was clear on his face. Terra loved that the castle had so many residents again, that there would be even more. He loved that his family, both through friendship and now blood, continued to grow but there was something special to him about the three of them. It was how his life started really.

Terra didn’t really remember his parents, they died when he was young but ever since he was brought to the Land of Departure with Eraqus it was home, they were family. Aqua came after and while they butted heads a lot as they both tried to figure out how to be friends with each other, once they understood how the other operated, what made them happy, what made them mad, what made them laugh, they were inseparable. When Ven came into their lives he was like the little brother neither ever had; their own unique family that couldn’t be broken apart even when outside forces tried their damnedest. Sure they were missing one important family member, but only in body not in heart.

Terra often felt like Eraqus was still with them in the quietest of the halls, in the warm breezes that blew around their hair, in the moonlight that kept the darkness at bay at nights. He knew he wasn’t the only one; Ven often said because they left their wayfinders on Eraqus’ memorial they left him a way to always come back to them, even if they couldn’t see him. Aqua would hum in approval, the thought of him being still with them comforting. Terra knew because he felt the same way about it.

He hoped it was true, because in a month and a half he was going to need all the help he could get, especially from the only dad he ever knew. Terra tried not to worry about it, but late at night when he realized that he’d never even held a baby before how was he supposed to know to take care of his own kids it wasn’t exactly easy. He saw the lives of two kids who trained under the same master, and how one was led to darkness while the other embraced light. How was he supposed to lead anyone down the right paths when he himself wasn’t always on the right path?

The comfort of Aqua and Ven talking, of their presence was starting to fade, leaving Terra’s chest clenched, making it feel hard to breath. He didn’t have time to push off the what ifs any more when every day came closer to the reality that he was going to have two lives in his hands.

“Terra,” Aqua said, making him blink his eyes. Both Aqua and Ven were watching him, and Terra wondered just how long he had zoned out. “C’mon, I know you’re about to fall asleep on that chair.”

Ven looked like he was about to laugh at catching Terra passing out at his desk but Aqua looked a little more knowingly; despite the smile her forehead was furrowed. Maybe not knowing exactly what he was thinking, but something along the lines.

“Alright,” Terra said, pushing himself up from the chair to walk over to the bed that was already looking a little full; considering Ven rolled over on his side to face Aqua it was clear he had no thought of leaving.

She carefully inched herself forward on the bed, moving aside some of the pillows so there was room for him. Terra did his best not to jostle her too much as he climbed in behind, kicking his legs up on the bed on either side of her. She laid back against him with a small sigh, but one he at least knew was a content one as he placed his hands over her stomach.

He could easily feel them moving around, clearly the reason she was still awake. It made his chest feel warm for a moment, feeling living proof that they were there and they were real never got old, but he couldn’t shake his previous mindset that easily. Terra leaned his head down slightly, placing a quick kiss to the side of her head, letting the easy comfort of Aqua’s presence try and make him relax.

“Do you have names yet?” Ven asked, tapping his finger against the blanket under him.

“Not since yesterday when you asked last,” Aqua chuckled, though she was sounding significantly more tired.

“C’mon,” he said. “You need names, names like make it so real.”

“Believe me, Ven. It’s plenty real to me.”

Terra snorted, closing his eyes, his head still leaned up against hers.

They were all quiet for a moment and Terra thought the two of them might’ve actually fallen asleep this time, but the babies were still moving around and Ven was shifting on the bed.

“Hey,” he said, though his voice was much quieter than before. “Can I ask you guys something personal?”

That question could be alarming coming from a teenager but Terra knew from his own embarrassing experience, Eraqus was plenty adept in giving those sorts of talks. Ven was already plenty aware of what went into actually having kids.

“Of course,” Aqua said. “You know we’ll always be honest with you, Ven.”

He was quiet, hesitant almost. Ven was always curious and always open with that curiosity so it was strange to see him nervous to ask them something. Terra opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Ven who was picking at the blanket.

“Do you guys ever get scared? Like about all of this?”

Terra swallowed the lump in his throat, afraid that maybe he accidentally spoke aloud when he was lost in his mind a few minutes ago but it wasn’t directed just at him. He knew he was afraid, and often afraid for that matter, but voicing that to the two people he loved the most was a lot harder.

“Oh, Ven,” Aqua said in that soft tone of hers. “Of course, absolutely.”

It wasn’t like he didn’t know, but there was something about the honesty in her tone that made him feel not quite as alone in his own fears.

“I get scared sometimes too,” Ven said, not looking up at them. “That like something bad might happen to you or them, and then I don’t know what I’d do. I don’t know if I could do it again.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s okay to feel that way, that’s what love is. You don’t want anything bad to happen to the people you love so much so that it hurts sometimes. You know what makes me feel better?”

Ven did look up that time.

“You,” she said, reaching her hand out to ruffle his hair. “Terra, and Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Lea all people who I know if anything ever happened to me would not only take care of our children, but would take care of each other and that’s all I’d ever want.”

“Okay,” Ven said, a small smile on his lips.

“And I know…” Aqua said as she reached for Terra’s hand, lacing her fingers with his. “Terra gets scared sometimes too, it’s not just me.”

“I am right here,” he said, though he wasn’t actually upset; it was the truth after all.

“Yeah, I know but you’d never actually say it.”

He couldn’t ever say she didn’t know him.

“For the same reasons?” Ven asked, glancing up to Terra.

“Mostly,” he said, also not a lie. The fear of something happening to him again and not only leaving Aqua and Ven but two small children now was enough to keep him up at night at times.

“He gets worried he won’t know what do to as a father, that he won’t make the right choices or won’t be able to be there for them like he wants to be but he should know he’s wrong.”

Terra shook his head and laughed despite himself. He supposed it was pointless to keep anything from her. “Am I now?”

“Absolutely. I know it because I’ve had bandages put on my knees by you, and I’ve watched you encourage Ven to be the best person he could be, I’ve seen you make special meals for Sora, Kairi and Riku that reminded them of their home, and I’ve seen you keep Lea on his toes in training like Master used to do to you. All not your biological children, sure, but that doesn’t matter. You do all those things without thinking, so stop thinking.”

“Should be easy for you, Ter,” Ven chuckled.

He supposed it was the mark of their own family bonds that he could reach out to gently hit Ven in the head as he leaned in to press a kiss to Aqua’s cheek. It didn’t make all the worries that swirled around in his head and the pit of his stomach vanish, but it did make him feel more at ease that in the least she believed in him just fine.

Ven was careful about it, but he scooted in, wrapping his arms around them as best as he could as his head rested on Terra’s other arm. “Well, I know you’re the best parents I ever had so I think any kids of yours are lucky. I know I was.”

Aqua hummed as she reached an arm around him but it sounded slightly choked. Terra closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the headboard, breathing out slightly.

It was scary most all the time, the closer she got to her due date the harder it got but at the same time no matter what they had each other. They already went through the worse and here they were, still awake at two am in one of their rooms keeping each other company. He supposed he should know they could get through anything as long as they were together, and in this case it was a good thing, a very good thing.

He looked back down to try and see if they wanted to move but it was too late. Terra noticed the babies had settled under his hands, Aqua’s eyes were already closed, her breathing rhythmic. Ven didn’t make it much better; he was snuggled up next to them, his head buried but Terra could see Ven’s side’s rising and falling. Also Terra’s arm had already fallen asleep.

Of course, how did he not see this one coming?

He carefully untangled his hand from Aqua’s, moving to flip off the lamp on the night stand next to him. The darkness wasn’t quite as scary as it used to be, plus the moonlight was shining in through the window.

Terra sighed as he leaned against the headboard again, eyes glancing towards the open window. His family really was much bigger now, his world even so much bigger and yet these were the times he’d cherish the most, when it was the three of them.

A warm breeze blew in through the window; blowing over them and making him close his eyes with a small smile. Ah, of course, how could he forget?

When it was the four of them.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #my fics:kh #onlyplace #canonversekh #I started the next chapter today as well #then only 2 left!#I'm excited to finish it up and start my next canonverse set <3

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Let Your Heart Be Light

Pairings: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Pre Canon; The winter before the exam

Rating: K

Notes: HAPPY DECEMBER IT’S TIME FOR SOME HOLIDAY FLUFF cause I cannot resist the call. This one though was written with two people in mind! While I’m beyond thankful to everyone who sends their support in any way, both @mimiplaysgames and @lorelei-melodei are always there with reblogs and kind words on almost every story I have written. I cannot begin to express how much it means to me ;-; It’s encouraged me so much from the brink of giving up many a time, the least I can do is write you something sweet haha You both are wonderful people and artists! I’m so happy to know you, I hope you guys have wonderful holidays <3

AO3

Terra didn’t often wake up suspicious but when he felt the sunshine hitting his closed eyes he couldn’t help but feel a jolt through his body, nearly making him sit up immediately. He blinked his eyes open instead, wincing slightly at how bright his room was. He reached up to rub at his eyes before he rolled over under the warmth of his blankets. Even his door was still closed which was also…unusual.

Normally he was woken up before the sun even came out either by Ven full on tackling Terra while he was still trying to sleep or Aqua was nagging him in his doorway till he finally got out of bed. The fact neither were present this late in the day….

The clock on his wall was nearly eight thirty already. Not that he thought anyone was in danger, he knew they were always safe here but something was definitely up.

With a yawn he kicked his legs out from under the blankets, feet hitting the carpeted floor. He knew if no one woke him up yet he probably could get away with still sleeping but Terra was more curious as to why no one did wake him up to even be able to fall back asleep. He cracked his door open, looking up and down the otherwise empty hallway. Aqua and Ven’s doors were open, meaning they were more than likely awake somewhere; it was quiet in the hall.

For a moment he wondered if they all left somewhere without him, but the castle was vast, they could’ve been anywhere. He thought about getting dressed before leaving his room but figured it could wait till he knew what was going on. Terra stretched his arms over his head as he walked down the hallway, stopping by the bathroom to brush his teeth incase breakfast was still out and headed to the staircase. They could be in the library studying or down at the indoor training grounds since it was too cold to be outside or even still lingering around the kitchen.

His stomach growled at the thought of food so he figured that was the best place to start, though once he was down the main staircase he paused. The kitchen wasn’t too far away but there was a rustling coming from the main receiving room off to the side of the hall. Terra walked over to poke his head in the doorway but the sight surprised him more than he thought it would.

Aqua was sitting up on the couch, fireplace crackling in front of her as she held a mug up to her lips. The fact she was doing something other than using all her free time for practicing or studying was surprising in itself let alone that she was still in her pajamas too.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she said, a smile on as she turned to look at him.

“Morning,” he said, trying not to yawn again but it didn’t work very well. He walked into the room, only then getting a whiff of the sweet smell of what looked like a stack of biscuits with eggs and bacon from a serving plate on the coffee table. He knew his stomach audibly growled at that point when Aqua tried to hide her chuckle behind her tea. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Aqua shrugged, blowing the steam lightly from her mug. “Sit down and eat something before it gets cold.”

Terra wasn’t going to say no. “Nothing?” he asked as he reached for a sandwich, sitting down on the other side of the couch. He noticed there was another steaming mug in front of him on the table which he assumed was his considering the only other cup on the table was half empty and next to a plate with crumbs sprinkled everywhere; so Ven was around here somewhere too. “Where’s Master?”

“He got a call to take a mission this morning,” Aqua said, leaning back on the armrest of the couch so she could face Terra more. “And said we could have the day off to do what we wanted.”

Terra stared at her for a second mid bit into his food. “Is he sick?” he mumbled slightly due to the sandwich in his mouth.

“I don’t think so,” she laughed. “Maybe he was feeling the holiday spirit a little. That’s why we let you sleep in. I figured you don’t get the chance very often.”

“It was a little weird not getting woken up by physical violence honestly.”

“That’s because you taught Ven to rough house with you too much,” she tutted but she was still smiling. It was really nice to not see her stressed out for once. She barely gave herself a break anymore, not that he didn’t understand. The exam was only a few months off now but still, if anyone needed some downtime it was Aqua. He was glad she was actually taking it and actually looked a little more like herself.

Terra cleared his throat as he reached for his tea. “It was you before it was him.”

“How else was I going to wake you up? You sleep through everything.”

He snorted into his mug; that was probably true. While Ven was more apt to nearly body slam Terra in the morning, Aqua had always just tugged on his arms or shook his shoulders, sometimes sitting on him till he reluctantly opened his eyes. He missed those days, like he missed these mornings. As much as he loved Ven, sometimes Terra missed not having to share Aqua with someone else; when it was just the two of them and everything was less…complicated. Though he supposed his feelings for her still would’ve been complicated with or without Ven.

Terra leaned back into the couch, sighing as he brought his tea back up to his lips. “What’s the plan then?”

“What plan?” Aqua stretched her legs out, tucking her toes carefully under his leg.

It made him jump slightly, not just because they were unusually cold. He arched an eyebrow over at her as she tried to hide her laughter in her drink. She really was in a good mood today. Terra wasn’t sure when it happened, but he found himself hyper aware of where she was at all times when she was near him, every touch careful, calculated. He sometimes wished he could go back to how it was when they were kids, but he knew he couldn’t, not when he was well aware how she made him feel.

“What plan, she says,” he rolled his eyes, reaching for another sandwich. “I’m sure you have our day off perfectly calculated.”

“Maybe,” she hummed. “You’ll see.”

It made his stomach feel a little light that she didn’t deny it, that she wanted to spend her day off with him too. He had to eat a few bites of his sandwich just to try and ignore her toes wiggling under his thigh. “Where’s the runt then?”

“I’m not a runt,” Ven’s voice grunted, though it seemed a little distant. “You’re just abnormally tall.”

Terra looked over expecting to see blond hair and blue eyes but all he saw were legs and hands, the rest of Ven was covered by boxes piled up over his head.

“Ven,” Aqua said as she reached forward to place her mug on the table. “I told you not to get all of them at once.”

“I could do it,” he argued but judging by the strain in his voice it probably wasn’t completely true.

Aqua looked like she was going to get up to help him but Terra shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth and beat her to it. He walked over to grab most of the boxes from Ven’s arms, where Terra could see the blond’s flushed, and relieved, face.

“Thanks, Ter,” he breathed.

“No problem,” Terra said, moving to place the boxes down by the couch but by then it was clear what Aqua had in mind for the day. He grabbed the end of the piece of garland that was sticking up from the top box. “And here I was thinking Aqua wanted to spend the day not doing more work. Clearly I should’ve known better.”

“Stop,” she laughed. “This is fun work, it’s not the same.”

“Say’s you.”

“I think it’s fun,” Ven said, dropping the last box next to Terra’s feet.

“Thank you, Ven,” Aqua said making a point to smile victoriously at Terra.

“Suck up,” he said, reaching over to wrap his arm around Ven’s head, rubbing down on his head.

“It is fun,” he laughed, trying in vain to pull out of Terra’s grip before he did let go. Ven flopped himself down right in front of the boxes, clearly ready to dive into the decorations while Terra moved himself back to the couch to grab his tea from the table.

“I remember this from last year,” Ven said, pulling the garland out of the box. “For the fireplace, yeah?”

“You bet.” Aqua leaned over, pulling out some brass candle holders before a handful of thin red candles. “Then we can light these on the mantel too.”

“This box is labeled ornaments and lights, so we have to get the tree.” Ven looked up to Aqua. “Can we get the tree today?”

“Why do you think we needed to get Terra first?”

“I’m so glad I’m just here to be the muscle,” Terra said, but it’s not like he’d ever say no to the either pairs of blue eyes watching him.

“And to place the tree topper,” Aqua said, waving a star she pulled from the box at him.

“What did you do when you were younger then?” Ven asked, already accidentally wrapped up in the garland he was still tugging from the box.

“Master used to pick one of us up to reach the top.” Her tone was soft, fond; it made it easy to remember trying to decorate the tree as kids, placing the ornaments as high as they could reach, how Terra would try and pick her up so she could reach higher but it always almost ended with them nearly knocking the tree over.

“What’s this?” Ven was pulling something out from the box; clearly his attention span was all over the place today.

Terra looked over to see what it was, but the sight of the small green plant with red berries made him cough to avoid choking. He never remembered having that in any holiday decorations before.

Aqua hummed, gesturing for Ven to pass her the mistletoe. “You hang it up, like so,” she said, holding it over her head. “And then whoever ends up underneath it with you…” She leaned in to Ven, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

Ven laughed like he wasn’t quite expecting that, reaching a hand up to rub at his cheek. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she said, placing the plant in her lap. “It’s just one of those things. I didn’t even know we had one.”

“Okay, well, it’s Terra’s turn then.”

That time he did choke on his tea.

If Aqua was surprised by Ven’s request she didn’t show it, only reaching up to pinch Ven’s cheek. “It doesn’t work like that. I just told you, you have to get caught under the mistletoe with someone, not just because it’s sitting around.”

Ven would get distracted and move on, Terra knew that well enough, but it didn’t stop the way his breath was caught in his throat just at the thought. “Well, yeah,” Ven said. “But if I had to do it, he does to.”

Like it was a punishment. Maybe it was, but not in the same way Ven would’ve thought so.

Terra glanced up to Aqua, who was shrugging looking so unbothered by the whole situation it almost hurt; that the thought didn’t seem as serious to her as it did to him. He supposed it really didn’t matter, it’s not like she’d never kissed him on the cheek before, it wasn’t like they had never even really kissed before. Granted, Terra wasn’t sure how much he could count when he was fourteen and she was twelve doing it just because they wanted to know what it felt like.

“He’s got a point,” she said, gesturing for Terra to lean to her. “Fair is fair.”

“I never should’ve got up this morning all you two have done is harassed me,” he grunted but if only to make sure he kept his voice steady. He still leaned a little towards her.

“You’re such a drama queen,” she said, rolling her eyes but held the mistletoe up and pressed her lips to his cheek.

Even in the split second it happened, it still felt longer, her breath and lips warm against his skin. Even when she sat back down in her spot he had to resist reaching his hand up to his cheek where he could still feel her lips.

“Alright,” Aqua said, tossing the plant on the table and kicking her legs over the couch. “Let’s go get our tree.”

Ven cheered but Terra was trying to shake the feeling of her being so close to him and how he missed it already. He very well knew why he put that distance between them, even if he had to look at her hurt face, like she did something wrong when he put up those boundaries but it was for his own sake. He couldn’t let it ruin their friendship or almost as bad, ruin the exam in a few months; maybe he could face her after that, but not before then.

“Go put on your boots and jacket,” she said, ushering Ven up towards the door.

“And real clothes?” Terra cleared his throat, pushing himself up to his feet.

Aqua turned to face him. “We won’t be out there for that long, it’s okay.”

“Okay, who are you and what had you done with Aqua?”

She stuck her tongue out at him, but didn’t say anything else, just gestured for him to follow her. She always really did love this time of year; maybe that’s what had her in such a carefree mode. He reached a hand up to run though his hair, smile pulling at his lips even if she wasn’t looking anymore. He was happy to see her like this.

“Are you coming?” Ven asked, popping his head back in the doorway as he tugged his jacket on over his pajamas.

“I’m coming, relax.”

The hardest part about getting their tree was not finding a tree in the woods, or even the cold, or even cutting down the tree. No, it was carrying the tree with Aqua and not being able to see a thing just relying on Ven’s instructions on where to walk. It was a miracle neither of them didn’t twist an ankle or worse on the way back to the castle. They made it through, with a tree almost too big for the space (at Ven’s request) standing up in the tree stand Terra set up.

“Can we decorate it now?” Ven asked, dropping his coat on the couch as he kicked off his boots.

“It still has snow on it,” Aqua said, grabbing his boots with hers and gesturing for Terra to pass his over too. “We have to wait till it dries or we could risk a fire.”

Ven’s shoulders sank a little but Terra grabbed the pile of garland on the ground, dumping it over Ven as Aqua stepped out in the hall to leave their wet boots. He laughed as he was suddenly covered in decorations.

“We can set up everything else, and then the tree will be dry, okay?” Terra said, moving some garland from Ven’s face.

“Okay, that sounds good.”

“Or we could just decorate you,” Aqua said, coming back in the room to pinch Ven’s cheeks.

“Nah,” he laughed, swatting her hands away. “Terra would be the better tree, he’s taller.”

“That’s a good point,” she said, tapping her finger on her chin like she was considering it.

“Stop,” he snorted, reaching for the end of the garland. “Are you going to help me or what?”

Aqua started to detangle Ven who dove into another box for more decorations before she moved to help Terra hang the garland over the hooks around the fireplace and the walls.

It went a lot quicker than Terra remembered it even with Eraqus, maybe it was because Ven had more energy than all of them combined. He set out to swap out every “normal” room decoration with holiday ones, while Terra helped Aqua reach the high spots she was too short for. It was nice, relaxing almost, to see the room come together just like it used to when he was a kid. Aqua was right, this was a good idea.

When he finally stepped back from placing the last stocking over the fireplace, the one with his name embroidered on it in-between Eraqus’ and Aqua’s, Ven was pushing his on the end which meant all that was left was the tree.

Terra went to reach for the ornament box but the grandfather clock in the main hall started to ring.

“Wow,” Aqua breathed. “Lunchtime already?”

Maybe time went by faster than Terra thought it did.

“Are you boys hungry?” Aqua wiped the remains of the garland off her hands on her shirt.

“You two go on,” Ven said. “I just want to make sure the tree is all that’s left.”

“Alright, don’t be too long,” Terra said, reaching down to ruffle Ven’s hair.

“Okay, I won’t.”

Terra followed Aqua to the doorway, with every intention to eat everything he found in the kitchen; he didn’t even realize he was hungry again.

“Wait!” Ven called, making Terra stop so suddenly that Aqua ran into him in the doorway.

“What, Ven?” she asked, turning back to him.

He had this look on his face, both amused and that something was really funny. “Look up.”

Terra had a sneaking suspicion he knew what he was about to find. Sure enough, Ven somehow managed to hang the mistletoe right in the doorway. He glanced down to Aqua, her fingers over her lips as she looked up at the plant in surprise.

“You probably should’ve have told him,” Terra said.

“He’s a teenager, I thought he’d think it was gross,” she hushed.

“For real this time,” Ven called, though Terra couldn’t quite figure out why Ven was doing this aside from making the two of them squirm. Okay, that was probably the reason why.

“Hey, you know, it’s just a dumb plant, you don’t have to,” Terra said as her eyes hadn’t left his; the absolute last thing he ever wanted was for her to feel forced.

“Ah, no, it’s fine,” she said and though her face looked calm he didn’t miss the waver in her voice. “Unless you don’t…you know…”

“I mean, fair is fair,” he said, aware that didn’t even make sense in this context but he admittedly was having a hard time thinking with her so warm and so close. He was going to give her another chance to back out but she leaned up, her lips pressing to his.

When they were kids it was a quick peck pulling away in slight confusion as to why it was such a big deal but now she lingered against him and he thought his heart would beat out of his chest. He reached a hand to her face as her hands fell to his chest, fingers curling into his shirt and he kissed her back. If he thought she was warm against him, it was nothing like the warmth through his body. There was nothing like how she could make him feel, how even though he should be nervous over the fact he really never had kissed anyone like this before she still made him feel safe, like everything was right in the world.

Even though he didn’t want to stop, it was hard to breathe and he had to pull away from her. Her eyes fluttered open and even though her hair was messy from the work they did this morning, the flush to her face, the fact she was still in her pajamas, she was beautiful. She looked up at him, like she was unsure what she should say.

He understood, he had no idea either, but he couldn’t move from where he was.

“Okay,” Ven said, and Terra could almost hear the way Ven must’ve had his face scrunched up. “That was grosser than I imagined. It was kinda like seeing parents kiss.”

“Ah, should we, um, lunch?” Terra fumbled, though he was still reluctant to move his hand from the soft skin of her face.

“Oh, yeah, right, lunch,” she said. Aqua let her hand linger for a moment more, like maybe she didn’t want to move either, before turning to Ven. “Are you coming now, you little trickster?”

“Yeah,” Ven snickered as he ran up to them.

“C’mon, Terra,” she said, tapping him on the chest gently as she slipped by, Ven quickly following behind her.

Terra stood there for a second, watching them go, still feeling her lingering touch. He reached his fingers to his lips.

“Are you coming?” Aqua asked, poking her head back from the kitchen door. Her face was still a little red but she was smiling and he knew there would never be anyone else like her in his life. He didn’t want there to be anyone else but her.

“Yeah,” he said, walking to where she was holding the door out for him. He’d tell her, when the time was right he would.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #terra kingdom hearts #aqua kingdom hearts #canonversekh #my fics:kh #hooo its been a hot minute since I did canon setting haha #but it was fun!#I hope you guys like it!

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lyssala · 6 years

Text

You’re Idiots, the Both of You

Parings: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: Early Summer; Terra & Aqua are 23 & 22, Ven is 18

Rating: K

Notes: This is sappy nonsense but I mean it kinda goes with the territory lmao Also already at three more chapters left! This au has been so dear to my heart and I’ve adored writing it, thanks so much to everyone who hung around for the ride ;-; <3

AO3

Life

“This thing we’re doing here – me, you – I just want you to know I’m in. I’m all in.”

-Luke

Terra liked to think he was a generally relaxed human being. He was aware he didn’t express his emotions the absolute best and could on occasion lose his temper but he was in the least pretty laid back about most everything. He wasn’t prone to panicking over things, big or little. Life was what it was; things would work out however they would in the end.

But right now sitting on the edge of his bed, he was absolutely freaking out.

He could only stare out at the absolute mess that was his room as he just tore apart every inch of it, trying to rake through every fragment of his mind to remember, to think of some place it could be. When was the last time he saw it? Where was he? What was he doing? He reached up to run his hands through his hair, leaning his elbows against his knees as he hunched himself over.

Terra admittedly knew he could be absent minded sometimes but he honestly didn’t think he’d lose something as important as, you know, the ring he bought to ask the woman he loved to marry him.

No big deal right?

He groaned, closing his eyes. It had to be somewhere. He couldn’t have been that careless. Okay, well, maybe he should’ve kept it in his room for safe keeping till he was ready but that was the thing, he was ready. It was just every time he tried, the right words never seemed to come out and he quit halfway through. So he had kept it on him in case he could actually do it, which ended up being the problem considering now he couldn’t find the damn thing anywhere.

It wasn’t like it was terribly expensive but he did save for it as well as drag Ven to a jewelry store at least two hours from home so the gossipy town folk wouldn’t catch wind of anything. Terra knew it at one glance with its silver, whites and blues complete with a small star; her favorite symbol, the one that hung off the friendship bracelets she made them as kids. It was perfect and now it was gone.

“Hey, Ter, do you mind if….What’s the matter with you?”

Terra glanced up to see Ven standing in the doorway, eyeing the disaster that was the room.

“It looks like a tornado went through here.”

“No shit,” Terra grunted.

Ven arched an eyebrow. “Alright then, what’s the matter?”

“I lost Aqua’s ring.” No use in hiding it from the one person who knew about it.

Ven whistled lightly as he leaned against the doorframe. “Maybe if you hadn’t taken a million years to ask her.”

“Now’s really not the time, Ventus.”

“Alright,” he said, glancing around the room. “Last place you had it?”

“That’s the problem,” Terra sighed, letting his hands drop to his lap. “I can’t remember. I just always had it with me. I’ve checked all my clothes, laundry, this entire damn room, work uniform, everywhere. I even checked the laundry room though I’m pretty sure if mom found it I would’ve heard about it by now.”

“Then not here, okay.” Ven glanced up at the ceiling before looking back to Terra. “I know you don’t work there anymore but Cid’s? Or better yet the station. Don’t you have a locker there?”

His heart jumped into his throat; he hadn’t checked there yet, he hadn’t even thought to check there yet. It was summer and he left his jacket in his locker a lot or his change of uniform or clothes. It could be there. Terra pushed himself up to his feet, patting his pockets down to make sure his still had his wallet, phone, and keys. “I never even though to think there, thanks, Ven.”

“No worries. Hey, I’ll come with you.” He was already following Terra out of his room, not that he minded too much. It would probably be better to have someone with a clear head if worst case it wasn’t there.

“Yeah, sure, c’mon.” Terra didn’t turn around but waved Ven on as Terra headed down the stairs; his brother’s footsteps coming down after him.

No one else was home, thank God. Not that they wouldn’t know eventually, but Terra wasn’t exactly a person who enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention which would absolutely happen if he told the rest of his family what he was planning or at least trying to. He pushed open the front door, the warm air hitting him instantly.

Ven shut the door, pulling out his own keys to lock the door. Even though he was well old enough, he was about to be a senior in high school for Christ’s sake, it was still a little strange for Terra that his baby brother had his own keys and his own car. Not that Ven was much of a baby any more when he stood nearly eye to eye with Terra.

He led the way to his car with Ven sliding into the passenger seat without complaint, probably just letting Terra do whatever he wanted to make him feel better about potentially loosing something rather important.

“So,” Ven breathed as Terra started the car, pulling it out of the driveway. “Any reason why you haven’t asked her yet?”

He glanced over at Ven who was rolling down the window. “Is that why you wanted to come? Trap me in the car?”

Ven grinned, like he had zero concerns in the world. “Yep, absolutely.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us can be so carefree right now.”

“Oh, will you relax, Terra. I know you didn’t lose it. You’re too careful for that. It’s somewhere and I know we’ll find it okay? So breathe.” Ven waited a minute, probably to make sure Terra was in fact still breathing. “Okay, so, let it out. It could help.”

He rolled his head back against the headrest, eyes firmly on the road. He didn’t really want to talk about it not because it was difficult to explain but more so he was embarrassed at the fact he couldn’t actually do it every time he wanted to. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I’d ask if you’ve always been this annoying but I know for a fact you have.”

“Stop being so dramatic.” Ven rolled his eyes, fingers tapping lightly on his leg. “What’s the big deal? You know she’ll say yes.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point.”

“Oh, really?” Ven’s voice sounded way too amused for his own good. “So the point of asking someone to marry them is not for them to say yes?”

“I’m really regretting letting you in this car.”

“To bad, I’m the only one who knows about the ring and therefore the only one who can help you.”

“Okay, fine,” Terra sighed, knowing they still had a little bit to drive to get to the station he worked at and that Ven would never drop this until Terra just told him. “It’s just…every time I try I just can’t find the right words to say to her. I’ve never been good at that. There’s so much I want to tell her but when it comes down to it I just can’t.”

“Yeah, but, Ter, don’t you think she knows you well enough to know you’re not the one to give a big long romantic speech?”

“I mean, yeah, I guess.” He shrugged, turning closer to town but choosing to go around it rather than through it. “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve it. She’s always liked that kinda stuff. I know I’m not very good at it so I’d like to make sure it’s everything she ever wanted.”

“I dunno, man, I think you’re really overthinking it.” Ven looked over. “I think you’re the only thing she’s ever wanted and you could probably throw the damn ring at her and she’d still be overjoyed.”

Terra snorted. “That doesn’t mean I don’t wanna do better than that.”

“Fair enough.” Ven paused for a second. “Tell me then, tell me what you’d wanna tell her.”

Terra hesitated. Next to Aqua, his brother was the closest person he felt to but still he wasn’t particularly good at this. “I dunno, Ven.”

“Just do it, it’s not like I don’t know anyways.”

“I guess,” Terra sighed; they weren’t too far away from his work so he supposed he could humor Ven for a moment. “I’d just tell her the truth, that she’s the only person I’d wanna spend the rest of my life with, that there’s no one that I love more than her and there never will be.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, idiot,” Ven said, reaching over to hit at Terra’s arm.

“Yeah, okay, easier to say it to you then when Aqua has those pretty eyes of hers watching my every move.”

“Are you telling me that Aqua has prettier eyes than I do?”

“Ventus,” Terra sighed, but at the same time for the first time since he realized the ring was missing he felt a smile pulling at his lips. Ven usually had that effect.

“Just stop worrying about it and do it. I promise no matter what you say she’s gonna love it.”

The fire station was just up a head, right next to it where Terra worked. Usually the sight of the stations were welcome as he genuinely did like his job as he liked the old brick buildings, red and white trim like straight out of an old movie. As he pulled his car off to the side of the road though, dread was starting to settle in his stomach again. He just hoped it was here.

He opened his door as Ven jumped out of the passenger seat, stretching his arms over his head. It didn’t look any of the trucks were gone which meant everyone on duty was here. If Terra could just get in to check and out without anyone asking him why he was there on his day off that would be ideal. It had to be here, there was no whe-

“Terra?”

He froze mid step up onto the sidewalk from the road, Ven pausing too so he could turn his head though it wasn’t like either of them didn’t know that voice.

“Oh, hey, Aqua,” Ven waved, putting on an easy smile. “What’re you doing out here?”

Terra looked over to see her walking up the sidewalk, coming from town. She looked a little confused but otherwise didn’t look any different from when he had seen her last night. She was even wearing a jacket despite the fact it was summer, his jacket to be exact, the one he let her have when she got too cold last night.

“Looking for you guys,” she said. “Neither of you were answering your phones.”

Ven pulled his phone out of his pocket to check and Terra probably would’ve done the same but the jacket…he remembered giving her the jacket. He only even had it on because it was easier to carry the ring…in it.

Terra was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a while.

“Oh, sorry,” Ven said, glancing a look over at Terra probably wondering why he hadn’t said a single thing yet. “Terra thought he forgot something here so I was coming for the ride. I just didn’t feel my phone go off, he probably didn’t either.”

“It’s fine,” she said, though she was still a little bit away.

There’s no way she couldn’t have noticed. It’s not like it wasn’t obvious what it would be even if she didn’t look at it.

Terra felt Ven lean in closer, holding his hand out. “You forgot it was in the jacket you let her wear didn’t you?”

“Ah, yeah,” Terra choked a little. “Seems that way.”

“Guess it’s now or never then.” Ven cleared his throat as Aqua came to stop in front of them. “Hey, gimmie your keys, I’ll go in and check for you.”

While with Ven there it was an excuse not to ever bring this up with Aqua, Terra knew he dragged this out long enough as is. He brought that ring months ago, no more excuses. “Yeah, thanks.” He placed the keys in Ven’s hand and he promptly took off without another look back. Some support of a brother was.

“What was that all about?” Aqua asked, eyeing Ven before looking back to Terra.

“Ah, you know how he is.”

“Yeah,” she said, a slight smile on her lips.

He still wasn’t really all that sure what to say if she wasn’t bringing it up, but despite the way his heart was nearly pounding out of his chest, acting normal was probably a start. He reached his hands to her face, pulling her in closer till he could kiss her. It was quick as his nerves were starting to get the better of him again but she still smiled at him when he looked at her.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi.”

Before he even got a chance to do anything else, Aqua was already reaching her hand into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out the unmistakable box, the one he had been searching for all morning. “I might’ve found your lost item.”

He tried to hum in acknowledgment but it came out choked instead. “Yeah, imagine that.” Terra gently took it from her hand, though it really was in his hands now and he still had no idea what to say to her; it was almost worst considering of all the places he considered asking her, the side walk in front of his work where sirens could go off at any second from both the fire trucks and the ambulances wasn’t the top of the list. It was always some place secluded, just them, no other eyes or nosey glances.

But it’s not like he could quite hide his intentions any more.

“Did you, ah, open it?” he asked, not really sure how to phrase that question without sounding accusatory.

“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “I respect your privacy.”

He hummed again as words still wouldn’t come to his head. It wasn’t usually like this, even when he had nothing to say it didn’t matter not with Aqua, but here words were important. Even with Ven’s help it didn’t seem good enough, nothing felt good enough for her, for how he felt about her.

“Terra.” Her voice was firm but her touch gentle when she reached up to brush some of his bangs out of his eyes, fingers trailing lightly on his face. “You don’t have to, you know, say anything. I was trying to give you back your jacket without having to tell you, but when neither of you answered your phones I figured you already realized it was gone.” She paused for a moment, her hand resting on his chest, that usual warm smile on her lips. “Don’t worry about it, when you’re ready.”

It was astounding where he never knew what to say, she always knew the right thing to say. They worked together like that, and in every other aspect of their lives.

“C’mon,” Aqua said, grabbing his hand that wasn’t holding the ring box and nodded back towards town. “Let’s get Ven and go get some ice cream or something.”

Terra supposed Ven was right; in the end it didn’t really matter where it was or what was even said. She knew Terra better than anyone in the world, he probably wouldn’t have to say the words and she’d still know what he was trying to express to her. There were words though, there were things he wanted her to hear, even if he had said them before, he still needed her to know. It was just as good of place as any.

Aqua started to tug his hand some, trying to get him moving but he pulled her hand back, tugging her in till she was close enough for him to lean down and kiss her again. He pressed his forehead against hers, breath coming out a bit shakier than he intended.

She was quiet, her hand still laced with his, the other lightly resting on his chest. He could feel her breath on his face, the sweet smell of vanilla from her shampoo as some of her hair tickled his skin. It was hot out and she was warm, still wearing a jacket in the middle of summer despite the fact she was also wearing shorts and flip flops and there was no one he loved more.

When he finally did speak, he was surprised he even had a voice. “I’ve never known a life without you, you know.”

She laughed softly. “I suppose that’s true isn’t it?”

“I can’t imagine a life where I’d want to. I love you more than I think I could even express and a part of me always has, I hope you know that.”

“I know,” she breathed. “I always do.” Aqua reached a hand up to his face, the sleeve sliding down some to show her wrist. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the old, worn blue bracelet she had tied on. She didn’t wear it all the time as he knew she didn’t want it to break with age; she was sentimental like that.

Terra let go of her hand, reaching over to tap at the bracelet. “I still have mine too.”

“I know you do,” she said. “It’s too small for you now though.”

“Stars always make me think of you because of it and that story you told me about them.”

She rolled her eyes, hand dropping to his chest again as she laughed. “Yeah, that I was too embarrassed to tell you that’s why I put the charms on the bracelets when I gave it to you. Ven’s too, though he probably wouldn’t have teased me like you did.”

Terra couldn’t quite recall the whole story now as his heart was actually in his throat but it had to do with fate and bonds, she really liked that kind of stuff. “I always thought you were right. I know teased you about it all the time but I knew it.”

She nodded though her blue eyes looked a little watery, like she never expected him to remember something like that.

Terra held the jewelry box flat in his hand, reaching over to pull it open. His bracelet she made him so long ago fell out a little, the orange threads against the blue and silver of the ring.

Despite the fact at this point she had to know what he was doing, both her hands were over her mouth in a sort of surprise. She looked up from it to him, and he knew the look in her eyes; he probably wouldn’t even have to ask. He knew her well enough to see the answer on her face.

“Will you marry me?”

Aqua stared for a second, the one of them who always knew what to say looking like she was at a loss for words. “Of course,” she said, though her voice was muffled do to the fact she still had her hands over her mouth. She seemed to realize it as she dropped them. “Yes, of course, yes. Always yes.”

His heart was still up in his throat but he carefully popped the ring out of the box, safely putting both the box and the bracelet in his pocket, before taking her hand to slide the ring just moments ago he had thought was gone onto her finger.

Aqua’s breath hitched as she looked at for a moment but she quickly recovered, throwing her arms around his neck and holding on tightly. Terra only found he could breathe again when leaned in, wrapping his arms around her, head nudged against hers.

Ven was right, Terra didn’t really think she’d say no, but at the same time hearing her say it aloud made him feel almost like nothing had up until this point. She wasn’t just his best friend any more, she wasn’t just his girlfriend, she was going to be the person he spend the rest of his life with. It was enough to make him not want to let go of her for a long time.

Until he felt another body weight run into his back so hard he had to take a few steps forward to catch his and Aqua’s balance.

“Oh man, finally, seriously.” Ven propped his chin up on Terra’s other shoulder, arms around both him and Aqua.

He reached one hand up to push Ven’s head away but he moved out of the way. “Were you watching the whole time?”

“Uh yeah, of course I was. What else would I have been doing?”

Aqua pulled away enough to look at Terra, eyes glancing to Ven and back. Her smile was breathtaking, eyes still a little wet. She really was the most beautiful girl he ever knew. “I take it he knew.”

“Unfortunately,” Terra rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, okay, should I tell her when you actually bought the ring?” Ven snorted, letting go of them but only so he could slip in between to hug Aqua instead. “Now you’re really my sister, you know.”

She laughed when Ven lifted her up off the ground. Some part of Terra could see the situation reversed, Aqua at a much younger age picking Ven up to carry him around. Times had changed, people grew up but it was still them, still the three of them.

“I’m happy for you guys,” Ven said, when he finally did put Aqua back down. “You deserve this.”

Aqua was still laughing as she looked over to Terra, her fingers lightly running over the ring like even though she had already knew it existed, like she couldn’t believe it was real. He was always happy with her, that wasn’t changing but this would be new too, a little different, but not unwanted, not even a little bit.

He reached over to Ven’s head, ruffling his hair. “Thanks, buddy. Thanks for your help.”

“That’s what brothers are for, idiot.”

Aqua leaned back into Terra, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned her head down against his shoulder. He dropped his arm to her shoulders, leaning down to press a kiss to the drop of her head. This was it, this would always be his life now.

Ven let out a low whistle, eyes looking towards town. “Man, just wait till everyone finds out. They’re gonna flip out.”

Okay, you know, that Terra could wait a little bit on.

#terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #wayfinder trio #my fics:kh #modernaukh #bothofyou #I actually hesitated posting this one #that's why its a week off #I got a little nervous with the amount of fluffy fluff I was posting #but alas if you guys ever want to see the ending to this fic I gotta post this one haha

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lyssala · 5 years

Text

Your Heart is the Only Place

Pairings: Terra/Aqua, Kingdom Hearts

Setting: 2 months after the previous chapter

Rating: K

Notes: If you thought any other chapters were sappy oh man, this is worse. Be prepared, it’s a trope I love writing in pregnancy fics but its super super sappy lmao Every time I post for this fic I’m like one of these days you guys are gonna realize I’m not a serious writer at all and I just like writing the sappiest crap I can think of lmao I guess its kind of in the nature of these tropes so I hope if you’re gotten this far you expect it. If not I am so sorry hahaha

Sorry this took so long! I had trouble with the next chapter and I make it a rule not to post till I'm one chapter a head haha but I just about have it finished so I figure its safe now.

Previous Chapter / AO3

5. Spring

The snow was melting, the air warming up as the green grass started to peak back through, the bright flowers that surrounded the castle beginning to show signs of life again. Spring was coming back which was a huge relief to Aqua who couldn’t stand the cold winter months.

The kids had been getting cabin fever too; despite the vast castle they lived in she knew all too well sometimes it never seemed big enough when all you wanted to do was be outside. It was even worse when she was unable to travel between the worlds as much as she used to. She found herself much looking forward to the warm weather when sitting outside was an option again.

The grass was a little damp, but the sun was shining overhead and most importantly Aqua only needed to wear a loose sweater over her clothes to stay warm enough while she was sitting down enjoying the first nice day in what seemed like ages.

The familiar clang of sparring was never too far away as she was sitting just outside one of the training grounds. She knew she didn’t need to watch over the kids, they were more than capable of fighting on their own but Aqua welcomed any distraction. The castle was big, and there weren’t that many people who lived there but it always seemed a lot emptier when Terra was gone.

Kairi landed on her feet near where Aqua was sitting, sliding slightly on the cement before pushing back off to go after the opponent. Kairi swung her keyblade around, making perfect aim in that way that she did but Sora was there to block her. She jumped back again, reaching a hand up to wipe some of the sweat from her forehead.

Sora called out something for her as he crouched back down, usual grin on his lips but what he said Aqua couldn’t quite hear. Whatever it was worked; Kairi took off again, this time landing a spell close to where Sora was standing, nearly knocking him off his feet. He recovered with a proud smile, but wasn’t going to let her win that easily.

Aqua couldn’t help but feel her chest feel light at the sight of them. It seemed like ages ago when it was her sparring, trying to figure out a way around Terra’s strong attacks. He was much more of an intense fighter than Sora was, and Aqua was trained much longer than Kairi ever was but the heart of it was the same; two people who only wanted to see their partner improve and excel.

Aqua leaned back slightly, placing one hand behind her in the grass as the ache in her back started to get a little too strong. She rested her other hand on the top of her stomach. It had almost become habitual since everyone who needed to know knew, and since, well, she couldn’t hide it anymore even if she wanted to. She very well probably would’ve run out of clothes that fit her at this point if she didn’t have Kairi who was more than happy to bring clothing back every time she left their world. Not to mention the accumulating mass of baby clothes and toys that only seemed to get larger every time Aqua went into the nursery; which was probably mostly from Ven and Lea who still seemed to be in a battle over who could be the best uncle.

A smile pulled at her lips as she absent mindedly tapped her thumb against her stomach. She had been so afraid at first, afraid of what to do, what people would think, what they would say but she found she had the best support system she could ask for. Kairi and Sora were more than happy to bring back anything Aqua would ever ask for (and more) without a single question; save for Sora who’s genuine curiosity sometimes got the best of him. Ven jumped at any opportunity to help Aqua with anything she needed, which she found comforting when Terra wasn’t home. Riku and Lea were always a little more hesitant, like they were unsure how to handle all of this but Riku was the first one to offer to help Terra with whatever they were asked to assist with when she couldn’t go, and Aqua often found teas or food already made with her name on it in a scribbly handwriting she knew to be Lea’s.

She sighed as she glanced up to the sky overhead. A part of her wished she could see Terra and Riku coming back even though they still had an estimated few days away. The world was a very different place now, but she couldn’t help but still feel that ache of worry whenever anyone of them left their world. There was always a threat, and there was always a need for them, which is why they continued to do their jobs but she didn’t always like it.

Sora let out a surprised cry making Aqua look back to the training grounds. He was rolling off to the side, the ground scorched and still flickering with fire next to him. “That’s not fair,” he said as he jumped up to his feet, though he sounded more impressed than mad. “Lea always teaches you the good stuff.”

“It’s plenty fair,” she laughed, moving to take a defensive position as Sora started to charge after her.

Kairi blocked him, making him jump back and swing into his next attack.

Aqua wondered if they knew how similar they were to her and Terra when they were younger. She was half tempted to bring it up just to see the looks on their faces.

She wanted to ignore the slight sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach but it was hard. As much as she was grateful Terra had no problem stepping up for her when she was unable to do her job any longer, she wished he didn’t have to leave so often. Next to her he was the oldest master here and Riku had the most seniority so they were gone the most. Ven wanted to go this time, but opted to stay back probably more for Aqua’s sake than anything. Though the last time she checked both Ven and Lea were still sleeping their morning away.

She knew it wasn’t easy on Terra either. She saw the way he tensed whenever an assignment would come in, hoping it didn’t specifically request him or her so he could give the lead to one of the other kids. He didn’t like leaving her any more than she liked him to leave, despite the fact she still had months to go before she was close to being near the due date. While the past was firmly in the past, Aqua couldn’t deny being separated from him made her nervous, now more so than ever.

She sighed as she looked back up at the sky one more time just in case.

Still nothing. She didn’t know why she was surprised. Apparently her attempted distraction wasn’t doing as much as she wanted to. It was hard without his ever familiar presence, his low voice never too far away, his comforting hands laced over her stomach as she tried not to fall asleep leaning back against him on the couch.

It was a surprise; the sudden pressure on the side of her stomach, the almost weightless feeling of motion that made her breath catch in her throat. “Oh,” was about all she could manage at that moment, hand fluttering down to where she felt the movement but it was enough to get the attention of both Sora and Kairi.

“Aqua?” Sora said, his voice questioning. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, mainly because she wasn’t sure if she spoke any words would actually come out. She kept her hand pressed to the side of her stomach though there wasn’t anything else. Did she imagine it?

Her answer apparently hadn’t been satisfactory because when she looked up Sora was hurrying over to her with Kairi on his heels.

“Is something wrong?” he asked again, this time leaning over so his hands were on his knees, forehead furrowed. Kairi stood next to him looking like she wasn’t sure if she should be worried or not.

“No, no,” Aqua breathed. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Then what is it?” Kairi asked.

“I just…” Aqua tapped her fingers lightly against her stomach, but nothing. “I thought I felt the babies move.”

“Whoa, really?” Sora’s tone changed completely from worried to eager as Kairi clapped her hands together, an excited gasp coming from her lips.

“What did it feel like?” she asked, leaning over Sora slightly.

“I felt a sort of push against the side here,” Aqua said, tapping the spot again. “And almost a turning sensation, it’s hard to explain. But I can’t imagine what else it could’ve been.”

Sora let out a whistle, looking to her stomach and back up to her face. “Not doing it again?”

Aqua shook her head. “No, doesn’t seem so.”

“What were you thinking about beforehand?”

“Sora,” Kairi giggled, reaching over to push at his head slightly. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“Well, why not?”

“Oh, I mean, I was just thinking Terra,” Aqua answered, no reason not to tell them.

Sora clicked his tongue, gesturing towards her. “See I bet that was it, they miss him too.”

The sentiment from Sora’s tell it like it is voice made Aqua feel a rush of emotions, nearly making tears prick at her eyes. Simple maybe, possibly implausible but the thought their kids even as small as they were recognized who their father was and when he wasn’t here was enough to make her want to cry.

Aqua gasped when she felt the same pressure against her, this time a few more pushes against her stomach.

“What is it?” Kairi asked, voice sounding a little enthralled. “Did they move again?”

Aqua held her hand out for which one of them wanted to take it first. Sora tried but Kairi reached Aqua first and he seemed to be okay to let it go.

She placed Kairi’s palm down on the side Aqua was feeling the most movement from. There was no sharp motion at the moment but she could still feel the almost weightless motion them adjusting. Kairi’s forehead furrowed like she was afraid she was missing something but that elated grin was back when she felt what was probably a kick.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed. “It’s really there.”

Sora, who seemed to get impatient in the few moments he was left out, nudged his hand under Kairi’s. She rolled her eyes but moved her hand so he could get in better.

“Did they stop?” he asked, looking up to Aqua.

She hummed. “Sort of. I can still kind of feel them moving but I-oh!” This was going to take some getting used to.

“Hey!” Sora exclaimed, a smile similar to Kairi’s on his lips. “That was a strong one. Good kick, baby.” He tapped the spot once before leaning back on his heels. “Well, they’re definitely you and Terra’s kids.”

Kairi leaned down a little closer to where Sora’s head was. “Do you think they can hear us?”

“They should,” Aqua said, moving her hand to where his had been a moment ago. “Even if it’s just a vague sort of noise to them.”

“Do they recognize how we talk?” Sora asked.

“You mean, like being able to tell you apart?” She felt another sharp movement but otherwise it seemed to be settling down.

“Yeah, like would they recognize us by our voices?”

The curiosity and genuine excitement in both their eyes made Aqua feel like she was going to cry again, though she was aware that was probably more due to her hormone level than anything. She didn’t know what she deserved to have people who cared so much for her and her children who weren’t even born yet, but she was thankful every day these were the people she shared her home with.

“They can probably recognize tones, especially ones they hear a lot,” she said, absently mindedly rubbing the side of her stomach even though the motions had settled down to nothing again. “So they’ll know mine the best, and Terra’s probably after but I spend enough time with Ven and all of you that I don’t think you’ll ever be strangers to them.”

Kairi sighed, happy smile on her lips. “I can’t wait to see them.”

Aqua hummed; she didn’t think she needed to vocalize she felt the same.

“Well, in that case we’re gonna be buddies,” Sora said, pointing his finger at her stomach. “So that you guys know that I’m actually the best uncle. Don’t tell Ven or Lea, it’s our secret, babies.”

Kairi rolled her eyes, reaching over to tap at Sora’s head. “You boys are ridiculous.”

“Easy for you to say, you don’t have any competition!”

She was already laughing when Sora pushed himself back up to stand. He didn’t look mad, he never was mad at her. It was so familiar it struck a jab at Aqua’s heart. She could almost picture the surprised look on Terra’s face when she told him she could feel the babies moving, the way it would melt into that warm smile, the glisten in his eyes that she had gotten so used to these past few months. She missed him; she wished he didn’t have to go this time.

“Why don’t we go wake up Lea and Ven for lunch,” Aqua said instead.

“Can we wake them up any way we’d like?” Sora asked. He was always a sweet boy, but that mischievous look him his eyes came out, especially when it came to his friends.

“You didn’t hear yes from me,” Aqua said, bracing on hand against the ground to help catch her balance enough to stand up; it absolutely wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

Sora held out both his hands for her which she took with a grateful smile. Once he was satisfied she was on her feet, he quickly took off after Kairi who was already walking back to the castle. He must’ve said something to her, because she reached over to push him while she laughed.

Aqua followed behind them, looking once more at the sky. Still nothing. With a sigh she looked back up to the castle, at least she wasn’t alone, the kids kept her plenty company.

“Just in time for lunch?”

She paused on the walkway, turning her head to look behind her only to see Riku heading up towards her. He had his hands rubbing together, like there was nothing more appealing than eating at right this second though really he was probably just happy to not be working anymore.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she said, though when she glanced behind him Terra wasn’t there. “Everything go okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, waving her off. “Just fine. He’s coming don’t worry.”

She wondered when Riku was able to read her so well; he probably took after Terra more than she ever noticed. Even still the relief she felt was more than a little welcome.

“Did they notice?” Riku asked, point towards Sora and Kairi who were almost to the castle door now.

“Not that I know of. If you hurry you’ll get the pleasure of waking up Lea and Ven too.”

Riku snorted, but he waved as he broke into a jog to catch up with his friends. Aqua looked back down the path again but this time Terra was walking up. She waited for him as she felt a smile pull at her lips; even though he wasn’t even within touching distance just knowing he was home was enough to make everything feel back in place.

“Hey,” he said, coming to stop in front of her. He looked like he was going to say something else but she threw her arms around him before he could, landing her head against his shoulder.

She felt him breathe out a long breath as he put his arms around her too, hand resting on her lower back and chin propped up on her head. “I missed you,” she murmured into his clothes, even though she felt like it was an obvious statement.

“Yeah, I missed you too.”

Aqua could feel the brush of his lips against the top of her head though she didn’t move, opting to take in the reassuring warmth of his body, the familiar scent she always associated with him. Her eyes fluttered shut. “Riku said it went fine.”

“It was fine, no need to worry like I know you did.”

She tilted her head up to see him looking down at her, knowing smile on his lips but before she could actually tell him anything she felt that same weightless sensation as before.

“Everything okay here then?” His forehead wrinkled in that way it did when he was the one who was worried but didn’t want to admit it.

She reached a hand behind her, pulling at his till she could place it on the side of her stomach. His hand was bigger than either Sora or Kairi’s and much more familiar. Instinctively he rubbed his thumb against her but stopped short when he felt what she did, that same pressure against her stomach.

His eyes flickered up to her, the slight look of disbelief evident in his face. “Is that…?”

Aqua hummed as she nodded, her hand still over his. “Yeah, welcome home.”

His laughter was a little choked, but she got to see that smile of his. Aqua really had no idea how aware they were at this point, how much they could actually recognize Terra’s presence or his voice or if they were just reacting to her being a strange mix of elated and relaxed now that he was back, but they were moving more constantly than before.

“Clearly from all of us,” she said, reaching her other hand up to brush some of his hair from his face.

He leaned into his cheek into her touch. “Glad to be home.”

Before she got a chance to say any more he tilted his head down to kiss her. It was soft in only a way Terra was. For all his size and strength, he was the gentlest person she knew both with her and with the others. Aqua couldn’t help but lean into him more as she kissed him back. She missed this, she missed him.

The kids could wait a little longer for lunch.

#Terraqua #kingdom hearts #kingdom hearts fanfic #onlyplace #canonversekh #I'll be honest I have a hard time with this one #cause while I LOVE to write fics like this #I get very caught up in oh god what will people think of this and me and all this sap and its bad isn't it #but alas I can't quit cause its out here for the world to see lol #so you'll get it till the end!#my fics:kh

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