#terraqua angst

[phoenix-downer]

Touch Cravings Chapter 2

~1320 words. Set post-KH3. Terraqua, Aqua and Ven friendship, and background Sora/Kairi. Grief, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Touch Starvation, Friendship, Romance.

Summary: Aqua is dealing with the effects of her time in the realm of darkness and then the grief of losing Sora. Thankfully, she has Ven and Terra to help her get through this chapter of her life.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

(Companion piece to Touch Hunger [Chapter 1 | Chapter 2]).

“Can I come in?” Terra asked. 

Aqua’s face was flushed with embarrassment, but she nodded. She had wanted to see him, after all, even if she would’ve preferred less awkward circumstances. 

Terra had to stoop a little to get through the door. Their rooms were in an old wing of the castle, which meant they were built back when people were shorter, and Terra was not a short man.

Aqua gulped as he drew closer. She was wearing baggy sleeping clothes and didn’t look very put together. Her bed had about five crumpled blankets on it too. These rooms got drafty at night, which was why fireplaces were in each of them. To distract herself, she quickly summoned her Keyblade and mumbled a quick Fire spell under her breath to light the fireplace. Now there was a warm, crackling fire in the corner, and its familiar sounds were relaxing and soothing.

Terra stood awkwardly by her bed. He likewise was dressed more comfortably than his usual attire: simple sweatpants and a t-shirt that still managed to be form-fitting because his muscles made it impossible not to be.

Her face flushed again, but for a much more pleasant reason this time. She patted the spot next to her, and Terra carefully sat down, making the bed creak.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so standoffish lately,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about everything and getting lost in my thoughts. But I want to be here for you and Ven.”

Her lips parted. She still wasn’t used to him being so open and honest. But he and she and Ven had talked about what had driven them apart, and bad communication was at the top of the list. So now they were all trying to get better at good communication. Which meant she should be honest too.

“Thank you,” she said. “I want that too.” 

“To be honest, I don’t really know what to do next,” he admitted. “Being back feels better than I could’ve dreamed. Being myself again, being free of Xehanort for good, being whole…it’s like I’m getting a second chance at life. But with Sora gone, it feels wrong to be happy.”

“I know what you mean. Why are we here when he’s gone? I keep replaying what happened in my mind, over and over again, thinking about what I could’ve done differently.” She smiled bitterly. “Something I’ve always been good at. Ruminating over past mistakes. I don’t need other people to torment and torture me, I do it to myself just fine.”

“You and me both,” Terra said, his head drooping and his voice heavy. “I can’t help but feel like Sora’s death is my fault.”

“I feel the same way. I told Ven earlier that that means we’ll just have to save Sora. But I have no idea how.”

A few long moments of silence passed as Terra searched her face. “We could…we could go to the realm of darkness,” he said at last.

Aqua shuddered. It was a possibility she’d considered. That place had so many ties to death that it would be silly not to at least check. But the thought of returning to that hellish place where she’d been trapped for over a decade? Her stomach roiled at the thought of it.

Playing with one of the blankets on the bed, she said, “I know it isn’t rational, I know you and Ven would be with me, but I…I’m scared of going back. I’m scared of something happening and getting trapped there and winding up alone again.”

For so long she’d been on her own. Going back to that existence was her worst nightmare. She hoped Sora wasn’t alone. She wouldn’t wish the solitude on her worst enemy. It ate you up inside, made you crave something, anything from another living being. A kind word. A gentle touch. After a while she started hearing voices and fantasizing about past touches, hoping they would happen again. Haunted by the ghosts of her own memories. No wonder she’d created a phantom out of her fears.

“You won’t be. I won’t let that happen,” Terra promised, his voice low and determined. The look on his face as the flames from the fireplace flickered across it…she knew he was deadly serious and would keep this promise with his life.

Oh how badly she wanted to touch him. Her hand twitched as she restrained it. She hadn’t realized how much she would miss human touch during her time in the realm of darkness. But after returning, she realized it wasn’t just any touch she craved the most. It was his touch.

“It’s messed up, I know,” she admitted, “but after a while…even a stray Heartless brushing up against me during battle felt good. I sometimes…I sometimes let them, even if it meant I got clawed. Just to feel something.”

He rested his hand over hers, and a pleasurable shudder went through her whole body. She noticed his hand trembling a little too. Maybe he’d been touch starved in his own way too. He’d been in the realm of light, sure, but not as himself. His heart had been trapped inside that guardian, and how often had he really gotten any sort of physical affection?

“Thank you, that feels nice,” she murmured. He tenderly stroked her fingers, and it felt even better.

“You’re not alone, Aqua.” He caressed her arm, and her breath caught. She was no slouch in the physical strength department, but his hand was so much bigger and stronger than hers and yet so gentle.

“I know.”

He cupped her cheek, and now her breathing really was shaky. It felt so good and he was being so bold and everything was overwhelming. But a good kind of overwhelming. So very, very good. She just wasn’t used to touching again yet, especially not like…like this.

He smiled as he caressed her cheek, and she rested a hand over his. She wanted to touch him too. Wanted to give him what they both craved. They weren’t alone anymore, and why not celebrate that fact? If it would help her face her fears and go back to the realm of darkness to search for Sora, then there was nothing wrong with enjoying this closeness with Terra.

No, that wasn’t it either. She wanted to be close to him for the sake of being close to him. Might as well be honest with herself about it.

“Aqua,” he murmured, running a thumb over her lips, and her breath hitched. A part of her felt like this wasn’t real: the look in his eyes, the feel of his hand, the warm fire crackling in the corner. The fact they were in her room, alone, together. That he wanted her and she wanted him and they both craved each other’s touch and company. But it was real. It was real, and she wanted to savor every moment.

He leaned close, and her eyes fluttered shut. His lips brushed against hers, and all the bad memories fighting for her attention melted away. In this moment only the two of them mattered. She wasn’t alone. She was here with him, and in these stolen moments they could make up for lost time.

She wrapped her arms around him as he deepened the kiss, and he did likewise. Embracing at last. Oh, they’d hugged before, but never like this. If she’d been starving for all those years, she was now at a banquet for two and not entirely sure where to begin. But they would figure it out together, she was sure of that.

She’d saved him all those years ago, and now, in his own way, he was saving her. Or maybe it was more accurate to say they were saving each other. Ending the loneliness and solitude and longing for affection that had plagued them both.

Whatever it was, she was glad they had each other.

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A/N: Thank you for reading!

[xekutozoren]

My first Terraqua submission

Models by Otzipai-Art and Square Enix

Pose inspired by a frame in @steadyknight 's comic @crosstheline-terraquafancomic These two have been bringing me a lot of comfort after a recent string of bad luck. I admittedly was only a Aqua fan before because I didn't really see Terra reciprocate her feelings in-game. But after researching their relationship and seeing it from different perspectives, I've fallen hard for them. (Because I love angst)

I still want to see more appreciation for Aqua from Terra in the games though ._.

My friend and I like to refer to their ship as Terraquarium keke

I wish there were KH3-style MMD models for them. I know Data Greeting exists but I'd rather be able to pose them more flexibly. I need to get off my butt and actually draw them as well as some crossover AUs I've been doing.

[mimiplaysgames]

A Rush of Blood to the Head (2/6)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: T Word Count: 4,951

Summary: Aqua was told it was a fair trade - her life for his. And it was, but now Terra has to pick up after the consequences.

AO3       FF.net

A/N: It’s such a weird feeling to end a WIP. This is the third one I’ve opened, and the first one I’ve closed. I usually daydream about them until I put them into words. The outline had been collecting dust for a couple of months. After I’ve dusted it off, I decided not to change anything. Needless to say, I’ve been very excited to finally share this. I almost consider this as an AU to my other AU, with all the same headcanons and backstories for them that I’ve written out.

The reunion was done to Michael Giacchino’s “Locke’d Out Again” from Lost Season One. The Wayfinder scene was done to Michael Giacchino’s “Departing Sun” from Lost Season One. The second flashback to the end was done to Gustavo Santaolalla’s “Home” from The Last of Us.

One Gain

The only thing that would have made this night better would be moving closer to her. But asking for her permission to do so was a risk Terra never took.

The rain continued to patter heavily on the windows, and every once in a while lightning struck again. The lamp next to Aqua had been lit, and they rested the heavy leather book in between the both of them, a blanket draped over their laps. The rest of the lounge, a mixture of furniture, long desks, shelves of books and a wardrobe, was completely draped in shadows. She was close enough that her leg rested against his.

For now, he was grateful to relish her proximity. He also felt safest when he made it difficult for her to determine his feelings for her, fearful of how she would react if she ever found out.

“Ghosts will stay behind for any number of reasons. They may need to take care of unfinished business, or they could be in denial over their deaths,” Terra said, summarizing most of the chapter he had been reading.

Aqua rested her elbow on the backrest of the loveseat they were sharing, her head on her palm. She yawned. “That doesn’t sound so bad. When does it get dangerous?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“They can haunt people if they are angry or resentful.” He wondered if there would ever be a point in his future career as a Keyblade Master that he would encounter one. “They can even get aggressive if they are enraged, or vengeful, or even possessive.”

She scoffed. “And the writer of this book came across enough of them to know this?”

His lips curled ever so slightly upward. “Did you know there is a world out there where there are undead pirates? It’s true. There was an earlier chapter about them.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not the same thing as a ghost. How do you actually know you came across one?”

He pointed to some lines in the book and read aloud: “A ghost, upon contact, will carry burdens and confounded memories of the life left behind. When one speaks, the manner will be cold, and their sentences garbled. A ghost will talk nonsense, leaving the living confused. It is a way to make certain that personal pain is felt by those left behind.“

“That’s horribly depressing.” She stifled a laugh rather poorly, which was usual. She always made fun of him for finding the strangest things to read from the library. But she never refused to listen to him talk about it.

“It gets worse.” It was fascinating, but heavy-hearted at the same time. “Sometimes the living can keep a dangerous ghost around because they get obsessed with their loss. Like, they’ll keep objects that used to belong to their loved ones with them at all times.”

“Ugh, Terra-”

“Hey, you never know. You might need this information.”

“Of course,” she said, her eyes fluttering shut. “Someday we’ll need to attempt a heroic rescue over some old lady who didn’t know she died.” Her voice cracked.

“You’re very tired.” He mustered every ounce of his will to stop himself from sounding disappointed, expecting she’ll leave him for bed.

She slowly opened her eyes, the dim lighting from the lamp on his side reflecting off of them. They stared into his for a while. “Yeah.” She actually sounded discouraged over her own tiredness, and it was a lie if Terra pretended that his heart didn’t flutter in that instant.

Still, he shouldn’t be too forward. “Should I carry you to your room? Or do you want to camp out here like we used to do during the snowstorms?”

“First of all,” she said, smacking him on the bicep, “I can take myself back to my room... But yeah, let’s camp here.”

It was the better answer. The lounge was one of the several rooms they’ve christened as spots for blanket and pillow forts when they were children. Inside the wardrobe were a heap of stacked blankets. They spread them out and layered them right in front of the tall windows - enough to makeshift a spacious bed.

The rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon. Each time lightning flashed, it illuminated her silhouette, the way her chopped hair fell around her face. Most days, Terra was able to handle his ache to touch her just fine.

Tonight, he snuck behind her in some feeble attempt to scare her. As expected, her reflex to defend herself kicked in - she sent an elbow straight back, which he grabbed. She laughed, her other hand right on his as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. She never seemed to learn that tackling him using just physical strength was always futile. Being this close to her, he could faintly smell notes of vanilla and lavender. He threw her onto the blankets, her laugh the sweetest sound next to the rain.

The sky was painted in shades of bright oranges and deep pinks. Sunsets in Twilight Town seemed to make the sandstone that shaped the architecture stand out all the more.

To see light again - after what apparently had been thirteen years of pure darkness, with nothing to see or touch - was an indescribable feeling.

Hearing voices that weren’t Xehanort’s took a few days to accept. The smell of food was overwhelming. The sights were unbelievable. He had spent such long hours in darkness with nothing but repeating memories and dreams. Anything he saw in his mind those years was probably warped. Seeing color again made him weep with happiness for the first several hours. Best of all, there was no Xehanort left to speak of - at least not speaking to him in his head.

But that was the biggest problem. He woke up, and didn’t understand why or remember what led to it. He was left to die in the middle of a desert, with four furry legs and an inability to walk properly. He was saved by a talking meerkat and warthog who took him to an oasis. It was there he met a young lion by the name of Sora. It didn’t take long for him to meet others, like his most esteemed successor, Riku.

Terra would describe the two of them as saviors. They helped him retrieve his armor and his Keyblade. Kept him up to date with all of the latest happenings. Listened to him when he briefly spoke about his past. But it had been two days since Riku came back from the Realm of Darkness, from a mission to find her. Avoiding Terra was such an understatement to describe how often he refused to answer calls.

That left Terra on guard duty in this quiet, peaceful town, checking the communicator they gave him every five minutes to see if Riku had finally replied. He listed every possible reason why he was awake in the first place.

He also replayed memories to himself, since he had no friends to share them with. Sneaking notes to Ventus during their study time, unable to stifle giggles. Ventus would write back to him the worst puns. Aqua sat right by him, her brow twitching every time they laughed as she glued her nose to a book. Until she grabbed the essay she was writing and smacked Terra right on the head, begging for some peace and quiet.

She was the same as him, though - she failed to contain a giggle of her own. They spent their entire childhoods with endless teasing like this - it was the easiest way to get her attention. When he got older, he wanted more from her, attention that was different than what he was used to. It was possible that he probably could have received it if he had asked. But old habits just didn’t break.

To think that was thirteen years ago, and he spent those last few moments they had together by shutting the both of them out, going out on his own, and hiding a bunch of truths he should have, could have, and would have shared with them. He could have been sharing this beautiful sunset-lit view with them now.

I didn’t even congratulate her for becoming a Master. I’ve ruined us.

He walked through the streets of Twilight Town, and checked his communicator again. Nothing. The buildings were tall, and it looked like magic was at work with the way the sun seemed to brighten every angle. Except for a hooded figure. So black was the cloak that it stood out like a mess of paint.

The hooded figure, a woman, saw that he noticed her, and bolted straight toward the forest outside of town.

“Hey!” He sprinted, following her into the trees, away from the ears of any civilian. She was lithe in her movements, almost floating in a way, using shadows to make her fly faster, to make her jump higher, to help her speed.

They reached a clearing, some decent patches of grass where thick tree trunks wouldn’t get in the way. She stopped and faced him, her hands melting into cascades of ever flowing shadows that seeped out from her long sleeves. Until they thinned out and hardened. He summoned his Keyblade, and she whipped.

The Master usually said that Terra excelled in staring down his opponents. In facing them with bravery. In analyzing their skills and preparing accordingly. The woman was a mage, a sorceress that utilized shadows that were able to bend to whatever she wanted them to be. She floated in the air, using mainly her whips for offense, at times trying to grab him. Not once did she say a word.

There were only two things that Terra needed to keep in mind: do not fall to his knees, and do not keep his eyes away from his enemies. 

Most of the fight was just a flurry of strikes that were blocked by others. But it was her dodging that gave him the first sense of unsettling dejá vu. He moved to slam her with his Keyblade, and she maneuvered a handless cartwheel to her left. A twirl here. A backflip there. Each dodge an opportunity she took to sneak up on him later. But each one was something he almost expected.

What hurt the most were his obliques. He gripped them as leaned onto his Keyblade. At least he wasn’t thrown down.

He waited for an opportunity to hit, and it looked like she waited for the same. The smoky shadows that kept pouring out of her long black sleeves still formed those annoying whips, but she kept them close to herself.

The woman made the next move. She flailed her right arm first before closely following it with her left. Terra maintained his defensive stance, blocking each strike as she continued to wail at him. He could feel that he was getting a bit more sluggish every second. So he darted the next strike and sprinted at her with all his might, raising the incredibly heavy Ends of the Earth to hit her as hard as he could.

She dodged, and dodged again. He stopped, and there they waited. Again, there was that itching feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something about the way she was moving. It was acrobatic. It happened at all the exact moments that never left him surprised.

He kept his Keyblade close and he breathed hard. What was worse than being this injured and fighting a new enemy this powerful was the thought that was threatening to leave his mouth.

And he didn’t have the strength to keep it in. “Aqua?”

The shadows didn’t exactly dissipate. They crawled right back into her sleeves, gloved hands forming in replacement. She started to remove the hood that was hiding her face.

The hand that held his Keyblade became weak. It felt like his face went cold, and he might as well be floating in the air since he forgot the pain he was under. Her hair had gone mostly white, save for the roots which were still blue. Her eyes were bright as always, but instead of bearing that enamoring azure color he kept a memory of all these years, they were amber. And they were furious.

All at once, Terra forgot he was breathing. He slowly walked forward, holding his hand out, but stopped himself short from touching her. She stood still, the look of wrath never wavering.

“I don’t understa-” He choked on a sob, and willed himself to hold it back.

She smacked her lips, and took a moment to respond. Her expression was fully unnatural for her.

“You understand exactly who you’re looking at,” she said with a low voice, but with an intensity that told him she was ready to strike again.

Of course he knew. He was looking at a parasite, during its gestation. It almost felt like he was going to faint, his face losing all feeling. “Why?”

There were small micro twitches throughout her face - her nose, her mouth, her eyes. As if she was enraged by the question and tried her hardest to contain it.

After what felt like forever of her staring at him this way, she asked, “did you ever think of me all these years? Just once?”

Terra let out a harsh gasp. “Of course I did!”

She breathed in slowly. “Then what was I doing, sitting in the dark all by myself this entire time? Hm?” She cocked her head at that last hm? But he had no proper answer.

Then she said, in a softer voice, “were the worlds safe the entire time I was gone? Was there a point to any of it?”

He shook his head slowly. His eyes burned and his throat constricted.

“And what were you thinking when you left us there to chase you around world-to-world?” she continued, her jaw quivering. “What was going through your head when you refused to come home?”

Again, he had no answer. She straightened her head, and strange sense of calm washed over all the movements that flooded her face before.

“You’ve ruined us,” she said.

Terra slowly dropped to his knees, leaning on his Keyblade. He stared at the ground.

“I know,” he said, failing to keep his voice steady. “Everything is broken, and I don’t know how to put it back together.”

He took in two breaths. She must been staring at him, because she didn’t move. He told himself to keep it together before speaking again. It was breathy, the way he said it. But it was the most strength he had.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me.”

No answer. He willed himself to look at her, even though he was terrified of what he would see. Her brows were slanted harsher than before, her lips so pursed that she must have been grinding her teeth. Aqua never used to get this angry.

If this was the most frightening she would get, then the only terror left to face was to tell her the truth. As crazy as it was. All these years of saying nothing, though, only to hit him back where it hurt the most.

“I’m sorry I never told you earlier,” he said, his voice surprisingly calmer like he was ready for the execution. He felt his eyes soften, but he refused to cry. “I love you.”

Her eyes quivered and they watered. Her mouth relaxed into a the beginning of shock as her eyes went wider.

He prepared for an attack, but then her face changed. It became... cold almost, and her eyes glassed over, almost like she suddenly became a different person. She reached her hand into her pocket, and threw something so hard that it told him she hated him. It hit him in shoulder, and bounced onto the dirt.

Her bright blue Wayfinder.

Fair enough. She slowly turned to walk away, leaving him and his unsteady breaths. 

What to say to make her stay?

“What about Ven?” he called out. There was no way she would abandon him. No way she would put him in danger.

She stopped, but refused to face him. It took way too long for her to reply, and it was impossible to read what she was feeling through her voice. “I don’t... need you to find him.”

Aqua kept going, disappearing into the trees. For the moment, Terra didn’t feel much of anything. It seemed that his body responded by simply denying everything he had seen. He eyed the Wayfinder, the only spark of blue that is among this forest baked in sunlight.

The sound of crumpling leaves and twigs crept up behind him. “She dealt a stronger resistance than you did,” said a voice that was soft, but only mock-pleasantly so. “Either way, her ability to continually struggle with it usually turned toward our favor.”

It was a young man, seemingly younger than Terra, with white hair, dark skin, and bright yellow eyes. There was no denying who this was. Xehanort, but a teenage version of him. How this was possible was beyond Terra’s understanding - not that he was able to mull over the reasons right now. The shock of seeing such a face nearly put him in a stupor.

This Xehanort smiled - it was a smile that oozed superiority, and it was perpetually different from the way an older Xehanort would have done it. The Master was practiced in pretending. This one still had a long way to go.

Terra only stared at him. This Xehanort wasn’t the one who told him continually, all these years, how he was good for nothing. That it was all his fault. That there was no one in the world who wanted him around. Still, it didn’t matter.

“What are you talking about?” Terra said, trying hard to keep his voice steady. There was no way he was going to give this bastard the benefit of hearing him in pain.

Xehanort maintained a smile. “She isn’t as frantic about resisting it as you were. On some level, part of her desired it. I believe most of it was due to the fact that she can now remember what it is like to feel again, and that she is free to roam where ever she may please.”

Terra let out a scoff that melted into a laugh. “Just shut up,” he said calmly. “She would never have-”

“But she did.” A glisten in the eyes, like rubbing salt on a wound. “She traded herself, for you.”

Terra held his breath. He shook his head, very quickly, and didn’t allow himself to gasp.

“You were a liability,” Xehanort continued. “We thus sought a more proper candidate who was primed for the responsibility.” He crossed his arms, his smile widening just a bit more. “I don’t believe she understood exactly what she was getting herself into.”

“You took everything from me.” Terra’s voice shook now. He hated himself for it, and he gripped the handle of his Keyblade so hard that his knuckles turned white. Eraqus was dead. Ventus was still missing. Now Aqua was taken.

Xehanort pretended not to hear it. “So much unspoken and forgotten emotion.  This made her much easier to manipulate than-”

Terra lunged at him, the latter summoning a Keyblade that was unrecognizable. Another mage, just like the old man, but much more temporal. Much more willing to let himself be distracted by anger.

And without a foreign will to bend the mind, Terra was free to let loose any ounce of darkness he was still scarred with. It was like unlimited power, fed by a hatred so deep, Terra wished he could end him there - take the life of a teenager, and everything in time and space would reverse.

It left the young Xehanort disarmed and up against the trunk of a tree, with his shoulder lodged under Terra’s substantial Keyblade. Without magic, Xehanort was just as weak as any, unable to wrestle out of Terra’s grip.

“I’ll take her back,” Terra said, and this made Xehanort sneer through his nose.

The he heard her voice. “Let him go.”

She stood there, shadows snaking up along her cloak. She wasn’t in a stance to attack, but her voice demanded submission all the same.

Surrounded by two enemies now... although one of them was someone he would never fight again, knowing now who she was.

He turned to face Xehanort, and said, “the next you see me, you’ll be afraid.” His voice was so low, it was only meant to be heard by one person.

Terra ripped his Keyblade out of the trunk, and Xehanort stumbled a bit, breathing hard.

The least he could do was keep his eyes on the enemy - at her. She was still Aqua, maybe she would always be. But not right now.

She held his stare until her eyes started to tremble, and she was the first to break contact.

“We have work to do,” she said to Xehanort, before turning her back. The teenager didn’t look too pleased with her reaction, but he gripped his shoulder and followed suit.

They walked some distance, where another man in a cloak, who was fairly large and very tall, waited for them by a gateway made of shadow. This man also had white hair that was long enough to drape his shoulders. Most surprising was his face - Terra’s face. Aqua walked through the corridor without acknowledging this man, but the man followed her with his gaze, and it made Terra uncomfortable to witness. Xehanort also disappeared through the gateway, and the man eyed Terra one more time before going through himself.

Alone. A gentle breeze shook the leaves that still took refuge in the canopies. Terra realized he was still gripping his Keyblade with an iron will, but forcing himself to relax opened a dam of tears to pour from his eyes instead. He walked over to the blue Wayfinder, and fell on his knees when he tried to pick it up.

Terra let the tears fall, barely breathing. His chest hurt the most, and he told himself that he wouldn’t vomit.

He held the Wayfinder to his forehead. When was the last time she truly smiled at me?

The morning of the Mark of Mastery exam. They stood together, right before opening the back doors to the entrance hall. The sun shone so brightly through the windows. The mountains were still green from the summer season. She looked at him, and with two fingers, traced the shape of a smile on her lips. Her own followed, and whenever she smiled - when she was really happy - her eyes sparkled. He remembered smiling back, although it was lie to say he wasn’t nervous. They were silent. Then they graced each other with good lucks and shook hands. It was the last time he had ever touched her, as well.

Tears continued to drip. He stroked the Wayfinder with his thumb, his nose stuffed up.

Peculiarly, he felt a nub at the back of the trinket. He flipped it to see a tiny, rolled up piece of paper taped there. He gently unrolled it, careful not to destroy the beautiful details she poured her heart into the creation of this star-shaped charm. The scroll was tiny and narrow, and it had three lines.

The first - her handwriting, soft and elegant:

Find him. May your heart be your guiding key. You just need the right one.

The others - still hers, but they were scratchy, as if she was being tortured when she wrote them:

It cannot break.

It hurts so much.

Terra let out a breath, the last of his tears tracing his jawline. “I know it hurts,” he said out loud. “But you’re going to be okay. I’m going to fix this.”

With a refreshed bravado, Terra stood up quickly, and hustled back to the motel he was staying in. The sun was disappearing behind the horizon, and most of the sky was dark. He turned on only the bathroom light, so that the bedroom was illuminated by it and what remained of the sun. He placed the communicator on the dresser and made his way to the narrow standing mirror right by the windows. 

He began to undo the clasp that held the string of her Wayfinder together.

A question she asked him a few weeks before their Mark of Mastery exam rang in his mind...

“Do you know what I would haunt you for, if I ever turned into a ghost?”

They laid next to each other that stormy night, on top of several blankets, with some pillows they took from the lounge sofas. She was on her side, facing him, while he opted to rest on his back. Close enough to touch each her, and damn, he wanted to.

He allowed a half-smile. “No, what?”

She rolled onto her back. “The fudge cake you rejected for your sixteenth birthday.”

“Oh please-”

“It had multiple layers-”

“I already apologized for that-“

“And I worked so hard on it-”

“It’s not that your baking is bad. Far from it. I just needed a change of diet.” He scoffed and added, “I still ate it, anyway.”

“I even put strawberries on top.” He could see in the dark that her smile was smug.

Terra snarled. “I’d haunt you for driving me crazy.”

She giggled and rolled back to face him. Her eyes were just as beautiful and bright at night. “But seriously though,” she said, “we should make a pact about this. And it should be a serious one.” She thought for a moment. “Hey, why did we stop making blood oaths?”

He laughed. “You forgot about that? We decided that it hurt too much to prick our fingers for everything single stupid thing. We were doing them for reasons like saving each other from being stuck on a tree.”

She snorted. “I think when you’re eight or nine, being stuck on a tree is a scary enough ordeal.”

“We still made pacts, though. We agreed to replace them with pinky shakes.” He smiled at her. “Don’t you remember? We said they meant just as much.”

“Okay then. Let’s promise to save each other’s souls if we ever turn into ghosts.” She held out her pinky finger. “What do you say?”

He gazed at her for a moment, and lightning struck. He wished he could hold her by the waist to bring her close to him.

He hooked her pinky with his own. “I guess you’re worth the trouble.”

... Terra wore the Wayfinder around his neck. Its bright blue stood out against the earthy tones of his clothes. He placed his hand on his sternum, underneath the trinket, as he stared at the mirror. It felt light on his chest, sitting close to his heart.

From her peripheral, a small light blinked from his dresser. A message on his communicator. It was Riku. The message said that Sora found a Keyblade washed up on the beach of their home world, and Riku asked if they could come together to investigate it.

Terra looked back through the windows, seeing that the sun left a sliver of red along the horizon. The stars were bright. He reached up to touch her Wayfinder again, and stepped out of the motel to summon his glider.

YOOOO so if you haven’t heard, I’ve gotten some requests to expand on this and include Terra saving her and their eventual reconciliation. Let me know if that’s what you would like, as I’m mulling it over!

Thank you guys so much for reading this! Especially to those of you who stuck by this particular story. The mention of the Keyblade that Sora found is essentially inspired by the multiple theories that were popping up all over the place over the very first trailer for Kingdom Hearts III, where Sora found Eraqus’ Master Defender on the beach of Destiny Islands - possibly hinting that Aqua was severed from it when she turned into Aquanort. Most of these theories say that it’s the key to finding Ventus - since it would be terribly out of character for her to put him in such danger. I just wanted to play with a tragic love story. I hope you guys enjoyed this!!

[letteredhearts]

the door we never opened

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (canon-divergence, time loop AU) Pairings: Terra/Aqua, Aqua & Terra & Ventus Rating: T  Word count: 27325 Chapters: 2/2 complete

Read on AO3: link

Summary: The dark and the quiet is almost serene, but Aqua knows it will not be long before she plunges into the icy cold of the realm of darkness, and all peace will be lost forever.

And then she collides with her bed, in her room in the Land of Departure.

Time Loop AU.

[soldier--poet--queen]

Some days I see a post about BBS and think to myself, "man I should really play that again," but then I start it up and realize why I should definitely not do that.

[pocketfullaflowers]

Simple And Clean

Xehanort continues to torment people long after his death. What can you do when you were used to hurt so many? How can you forgive yourself?

"Maybe some things are that simple."

Heyo! I wrote this because Terra and Aqua don’t already have enough angst in their life. You can read it on AO3 here, or below the cut!

 “Please, Terra, don’t go.” Aqua grabbed Terra’s wrist to stop him from walking out. He turned to her with tears in his eyes and her heart ached for him.

 “Aqua, what that man did with my body... I hurt so many people, used them. How can I just forget all that? How can I expect everyone to forgive me?”

 “Terra, please, stay here, I promise no one thinks of you that way, we’re all victims of Xehanort, most of all you. Stay with me, please.” The tears in her own eyes threatened to spill over as she gripped his arm tighter.

 A shadow passed over Terra’s face at the mention of Xehanort, “You were lost to darkness for ten years, Aqua, I see how it’s affected you. How can I forgive myself when I’m the cause of your nightmares?” Terra shook his head and sighed, “Don’t get me wrong, I love you, but that’s why I have to leave. You aren’t safe from me.”

 Rage burned like coals under Aqua’s skin, and she closed in on Terra, gripping his shirt in her fists, “So you’re leaving for me? Because you think that’s best? Terra, you don’t have the fucking right to make that decision, how fucking dare you.” She pushed him away, hot tears dripped down her face, “Every day that I was in that hell, the only thing that kept me going was the thought that I had to get back to you two. If It hadn’t been for you, I would have already been dead!”

 “You wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me, Aqua! It’s my fault, for believing him, for going against our master, for being too weak to strike Xehanort down when I had the chance!”

 “So what?! You want to go back in time and fix it all?” Aqua snarled, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think life is quite that simple.”

 Terra sagged against the wall, head in his hands, “He was able to do so much harm, all because of me, how can I ever forgive myself, Aqua?”

 Aqua sighed as the anger bled out of her, “You don’t think I have those same thoughts? I was the master, I should have been able to save you two. If I had just done something different, maybe I would have been able to stop him before he gained control over you.” She walked over to him, and took his hands from his face, and held them over her heart, “I should have seen that you were hurting, but I was so caught up in being a master, that I forgot how to be a friend.”

 “Aqua…” Terra’s face softened.

 “It isn’t easy, Terra, we’re all victims of the things that man did to us. But I’ll be here for you, all of us will be, Terra, you don’t have to be alone anymore.”

 “Aqua I…”

 “I wish I could prove I love you, and make it all okay, but I can’t. We’re all hurting.”

 Terra wound his arms around Aqua’s waist, holding her close, “Maybe… sometimes things are that simple. I’m not okay Aqua, but I’ll try to be better about asking for help, and saying what I need.”

 Aqua smiled up at him, “And I’ll try to be better at listening, and coming to you when I need you. Is there anything I could do to help you now?”

 Terra smiled back, “Just, hold me, please, everything else is a little a little later on.”

 Aqua held him tightly, “I love you, y’know?”

 “I think I’m beginning to understand.”

[dearly-beloved-terraqua]

Might fuck around and start working on my Terraqua/Xemqua fic I left in my files for months like the trash person I am. Let’s see how this weekend works out

[trapinchmon]

[rises from the grave] i heard that finally, kh3 gives us some good fucking terraqua food

cheers to @malefishe who gave me permission to use their amazing female Terra design o/

[plumedesimili]

Dreams

Challenge : #TerraquaWeek Day 5 Word count : 700 Read on FFNet - AO3 

***

He woke up to the shrieking sound of her scream, and he ran.

She was sitting on her bed, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Her eyes were wide open, haunted, and she was panting. He turned the light on - why was it off to begin with? She hated the dark. - and called her.

"Aqua? Aqua, can you hear me?"

This could have been an odd question, given he was a few feet away from her. But he had been right to ask. She didn't answer. She was here, sitting in front of him, but he could tell by her eyes that she was worlds away.

"Aqua. It's me. It's Terra." He sat by her side, taking her hand. She looked at him, and he had the feeling she was looking through him instead. She looked all around her, panic written all over her face.

"Aqua. You are home. You are in your room. I am here, sitting next to you. Ventus is sleeping in his room, a few doors away. The moon is shining by the window, and we can even see the stars tonight. Can you see the stars?" He squeezed her fingers. "Aqua, where are you now?"

"...Alone." she answered in a week voice. "I am… alone. I am always alone."

"You are not alone. I am right here with you. Do you want me to get Ventus too?"

"There are houses… They're all in ruins. I can see a fountain, but there's no water. Where did the water go?"

"There is no fountain. You are looking at your bookshelves. Do you want me to read you a book?"

"Something… Something is moving. Is someone there? Please! Please, help me!" she started crying, her hand reaching out to someone he couldn't see. Someone she shouldn't see. "Please, help me, I am so lonely… Please…" Her sob turned into a gasp, and she summoned her keyblade. "You are no human. Heartless! Leave me alone!"

Sensing she was about to attack, Terra grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry, Aqua. I'm sorry. You need to let go." And by pressing a very specific point on her wrist, he made her drop her weapon with a cry of pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… There is no monster. Can't you see? You aren't there anymore. You are out of this place, Aqua. You are free. The monsters are gone, and we are back by your side." He had wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly, tight enough to prevent her from summoning her blade back to her hand.

"But the Heartless… They will…"

"They won't do anything. They can't harm you where you are. You are all safe now, and the monsters aren't real. I promise you that. The monsters aren't real."

Little by little, he felt the muscles in her back relax. She put her cheek on his shoulder, resting her head for a minute. Her posture changed a bit, in a way he couldn't really explain, but he knew she was back.

"Terra? What are you… I had the scariest dream."

"I know, Aqua. I know. But it's over now."

"But your voice… Your voice brought me back. You brought me back home, Terra." He could feel her hands grab the back of his shirt, her whole body shaking.

"I did, Aqua, and I always will. Dreams are just dreams. They soon are over, and they soon are forgotten. Try to get some sleep, now."

"Wait, Terra. Stay. Please."

He smiled at her, and lied next to her, his arms still around her. He knew how strong she really was, but she looked so fragile at this instant, ready to break anytime. He squeezed her gently, whispering to her ear.

"I will always bring you back home."

But she was sleeping already.

[void-king-of-swingttv]

KH angsty AU idea

When looking for the Wayfinder Trio, they save Terra first, rather than Aqua, and after learning where she is from Mickey, punts the mouse through the window, punches Yen Sid in the face, and books it to the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua. 

He gets there, and not a single Heartless tries to give him shit, cause he's a man on a mission and the Heartless are a mindless hive mind obsessed with expanding and consuming, but they ain't gonna mess with a 6'7 wall of MAN who slings iron slabs like they're baseball bats. 

So, he's going through the Realm, using his Wayfinder to track Aqua through the Power of Love, and finds her in what's left of the Castle of Dreams, and she's... not doing well. She's happy, bubbly even, greeting Terra like he just got back from the store rather than he hell that has been the past decade for them all. She's going on about all the stuff he's missed since she last saw him, even if she thinks it was a few hours ago. She tries to dance with him and talks about how when Ventus comes back from his adventure, they'll all go out and look at the stars and make constellations together. A decade of solitude in the Darkness wore down her sanity, and some time after Mickey left and the Demon Tide attacked, whatever was left finally broke. She has no sense of time anymore, she's barely paused to breathe since Terra showed up, and her view keeps drifting as if the person she's talking to is moving around her, instinctually turning to follow them. The Aqua that Terra fell in love with is gone. Just a withered husk of what used to be remains. He tries to convince her to leave with him, saying that he ran into Ven and that he'll meet up with them at Yen Sid's house, with Mickey and Riku, and then she blasts him in the face with magic strong enough to toss him like a ragdoll. The Heartless are careful around the Castle, and fearful of it's Queen. When the magic moves, the Heartless retreat for miles and miles, for if they are seen within the walls, they are certain to fade. Dark Queen Aqua has not forgotten, even in her twisted, fractured mind, Liar King Mickey. She despises him with every fiber of her being, and all who aid him. 

Terra only survives by telling her that is Xehanort, the man who started the chain of events that led to her being trapped, will destroy Mickey before she can if his plans succeed. She agrees to help, but that the second Xehanort's heart is on a stick, Mickey's is next.

She goes back to her bubbly, happy persona afterwards, and asks Terra to lead the way there.

[iggyfing]

True Love’s Kiss

FF.net | Ao3

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: K+ (PG) Words: 1,177 Summary: She finds him in Radiant Garden with white hair and golden eyes. From there, things transpire a little differently.

“Terra!”

The name leapt from her mouth as her heart leapt in her chest. Even from this distance she could identify the distinctive set of his shoulders and spiking of his hair. The silver of Xehanort’s influence only made him stand out more.

He turns to her as she jogs down the ramp to join him in the main plaza.

His eyes cause her to draw up short. Once a deep, thoughtful blue, they now glint gold and piercing. This clash of familiar and unfamiliar causes her throat to tighten.

She misses his brown hair.

Stepping forward tentatively, she holds his gaze. She tries to speak, but the tightness in her throat strangles the words. She coughs. “Terra?”

His brows — silver-white as his hair — furrow in question. “Who are you?”

His voice is too deep and it crushes her heart.

He takes a step towards her which she matches with a step back, but he reaches out and catches the belts that cross her chest. She resists as he pulls her closer, but to no avail. Sheer strength had always been his advantage.

His eyes are searching, almost pleading as he asks, “Who am I?”

She pauses in her struggle and answers his desperation with a look of confusion. He really didn’t remember anything?

Who knew those cunning golden eyes could look so lost?

She juts her chin confidently despite the sting of this pyrrhic victory pricking needle-sharp against her soul. “You won’t win,” she asserts. “Terra will beat you.”

He jolts in shock, his gaze unfocusing. “Terra?” He says the name like a betrayal. Like a wound.

He staggers a step back with a grunt of what she desperately hopes is pain. The hand not tightening a white-knuckled grip on her cross-belts clutches the side of his head. He groans through his teeth.

She places one hand on his wrist, the other on his shoulder, drawing herself closer. “Terra, I know you’re in there. You have to fight it!”

Black fire flares around him in a halo of darkness, framing his form. She nearly recoils, magnetically repulsed by the stench of it, but she is so close. Somewhere in that darkness, Terra’s heart still lives. She can feel it. The barest fringes of Terra’s light linger like warmth in her fingertips.

She can reach him.

He staggers again, the hand in his hair straining tighter.

“Terra!” she calls again.

His gaze returns to hers and just there, behind the gold, she can see him.

“Just as long as you love him,” Yen Sid told her of Ven. She sees no reason it shouldn’t also apply here and now. All those worlds, and whenever true evil reared its ugly head, it had been love that won out.

Curses undone by a kiss.

She closes the last bit of space between them and presses her lips to his. Her hand moves to the side of his face. Her eyes are tightly closed, willing, kissing, loving him free of the darkness. Calling his heart to hers.

He is perfectly still, neither rejecting nor reciprocating.

She doesn’t dare open her eyes or pull away. The thought of his eyes meeting hers with anything but blue is unbearable. Come back, she implores in desperate prayer. Please, come back to me.

How much time had she wasted? How much energy had she spent trying to catch up to him?

They should have been Masters together. Instead, he fell behind.

And she let him.

It was nice, having a definitive win in the competition between them. An end to the previously endless striving. Now, though, she’d give anything to go back. Nothing is worth this loss.

She feels warmth, a light she can see without her eyes. Fingers fold gently into her hair. He kisses her back.

A sob of giddy laughter runs up her throat. Her eyes sting with relief. She blinks them open and has to squint against the vibrant golden light that edges his every feature.

She happily closes them again, casting an arm around his neck and curling her free hand around one of the belts that cross his own chest, pulling him nearer even as he is to her.

Just for this moment, all that was wrong between them has been put right. He is strong and resplendent and good, everything she ever believed he was, and she loves him.

They part and the tears run hot down her cheeks. His hair is still white, his eyes still gold, but the set of his brows and the softness behind those eyes are all Terra. He is ringed in a halo of light. He brushes the tears from her face. His lips tilt into a quiet, sad smile.

When he opens his mouth to speak, she knows by the sound of his breath that it will be his own voice.

“Goodbye, Aqua.”

He shoves her away with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs. The ground is no longer beneath her feet. She’s flying back, propelled by that same strength that had drawn her near just moments before.

Cold betrayal knots in her stomach and she is only just able to land upright. Her boots scrape against the stone ground as she skids to a halt.

A barrier flashes up between them.

“No!” She stumbles forward, hand outstretched. Her open palm slams against the flickering transparency, jarring her wrist as her body catches up. “Terra!”

Within and beyond her reach, he staggers, both hands clutching at his head.

Rising panic quivers just under her skin. Stepping back quickly, she summons Stormfall and levels it at the barrier. Her magic flares, fueled by the dread she’s already too late. “Fire!” Flames crackle out from her hands, along her weapon, and swell into a thunderous inferno that leaves a knot of cracks in its wake.

He’s screaming. The sound is muffled, but his mouth is gaping wide and she can see the cords in his neck drawn taut from the strain.

“Hang on, Terra!” She squares her stance and fires again. More cracks. Not enough. Again.

His whole body seizes and spasms in turns and there are still not enough cracks in the barrier.

She strikes at the heart of the cracks. Withdraws, strikes again. And again. And again. Over and over and over until her palms sting and her shoulders ache. Breathing hard, she takes a step back and braces, both hands wringing Stormfall’s hilt. With a cry, she hurls all her weight into a single piercing thrust. The tip of her Keyblade jams against the barrier. Still it holds.

Only then does she notice the cracks are knitting back together.

He’s keeping her out.

“Goodbye,” he’d said.

A numb sort of terror settles like a stone in her gut, and her gaze moves past the disappearing cracks to where he is now straightening slowly from his contortion. His shoulders heave with every breath.

He turns to face her, and there’s nothing left of Terra in the spiteful triumph that twists his face.

The barrier shatters.

“Goodbye, Aqua.”

[phoenix-downer]

Touch Cravings Chapter 1

~1400 words. Set post-KH3. Terraqua, Aqua and Ven friendship, and background Sora/Kairi. Grief, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Touch Starvation, Friendship, Romance.

Summary: Aqua is dealing with the effects of her time in the realm of darkness and then the grief of losing Sora. Thankfully, she has Ven and Terra to help her get through this chapter of her life.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

(Companion piece to Touch Hunger [Chapter 1 | Chapter 2]).

The events of the Keyblade Graveyard haunted Aqua. When that Demon Tide had come after them, she had frozen up like a coward. Locked in the past, stuck in a memory. It was like all those Heartless were her phantom selves, taunting her, tormenting her, reminding her of all those years she’d been stuck alone in the realm of darkness and her inability to do anything about it.

They all should’ve died that day, but Sora and Kairi had come to the rescue. Kairi by stubbornly refusing to let go and lighting Sora’s way, and Sora by tracking down every single one of their hearts until he reached her. Together they’d brought everyone back. And then Terra had finally broken free of Xehanort not long after. Hugging him and Ven again had felt so wonderful that the harrowing experiences of that day faded slightly.

Until they’d lost Sora. The price he’d paid to rescue them, to rescue Kairi…to go against what fate had ordained…he’d settled the debt with his own life.

Aqua sighed and curled in on herself. That brave, kind boy, risking everything to save her and Terra and Ven…she sometimes asked herself why he’d done it. She could still see his big bright smile in her mind’s eye, still picture the hand he’d offered to lift her up out of the water, out of the darkness and into the realm of light again. It didn’t feel like he was really gone. It had happened so suddenly. One moment he was sitting on the paopu tree on Destiny Islands, real as can be. The next he’d simply vanished. 

Aqua still couldn’t get Kairi’s cries out of her mind, and it had already been a week. Everyone’s tear-streaked faces would forever be etched in her mind and heart too. Some things you just didn’t forget. 

The other things you did. Time seemed to flow differently, much like in the realm of darkness, and Aqua felt like she was in a strange fog. The days blended into each other, and though Terra and Ven were here, she felt distant from them. They all grieved differently. Ven cried a lot, Terra withdrew, and she ruminated constantly. On and on and on, over and over again, wondering what she could’ve done differently.

There was a knock on her door. She sat up, the blanket falling off of her, the chilly night air making her shiver.

“Come in,” she said, and a moment later, she was greeted by Ven’s hollow expression and red, puffy face.

“Need a hug?” he asked softly. 

“I think you do, Ven,” she said softly, holding her arms out. “And yeah, I think I do too.”

They had an agreement: Ven would give her as many hugs as her heart desired. He’d figured out pretty quickly how starved she was for human contact after all that time spent alone in the realm of darkness.

If only Terra would offer hugs like that. At first he had. At first he’d been overjoyed to be reunited with her and Ven and had given them so many hugs it made her heart sing. But then Sora had disappeared, and she wanted to give him his space as he grieved. For the years lost, for everything he’d been powerless to prevent, for what she and Ven had gone through. For Master Eraqus’s final goodbye. And for Sora’s cruel fate.

The three of them had already made plans to search for Sora, but picking up the pieces was still tough. So she gave Ven a hug, and the ache in her heart and the years of loneliness faded a little. No matter how many affectionate touches she got from friends, it felt like she was still paying back a debt to herself she hadn’t realized she’d owed.

She wondered if she’d ever feel “normal” about touch again.

“I can’t sleep,” Ven admitted. The dark circles under his eyes were proof enough, but she was glad he was being honest with her. Irony of ironies that the boy who had spent so much of his life in slumber was now struggling to sleep.

“I’ve heard it’s common to either not be able to sleep or to sleep too much when you’re grieving,” she said, gently ruffling his hair.

“I wish I got the sleeping too much version of this grieving stuff then,” he muttered. “Then I could escape in my dreams for a little while at least.” 

“My dreams aren’t much better,” she told him sadly. “And then I wake up and I remember all over again that Sora’s gone. It’s like waking up in a world I don’t want to be in.”

Master Eraqus’s passing was heartbreaking, but he’d lived a good, full life, and Aqua had had a decade to come to terms with it. She’d gotten to say goodbye, too. But Sora? There was nothing she could rationalize about his disappearance. There was no closure. He was young and had had his life cut short due to the machinations of a cruel, selfish old man.

“Yeah, me too,” Ven said. “He saved us all. But at what cost?” He pulled away a little to search her face, as if she might have the answers. But she didn’t have the answers. How did you bring someone back who hadn’t died a normal death but had been completely banished from this entire realm?

“We’ll just have to save him too,” she told Ven, because it was the right thing to tell him. “That’s how we’ll make it up to him.”

She didn’t see how else they could do it. Maybe the collective strength of their hearts would be enough to save him. His heart had been enough to save all of them, after all. Granted, that heart was strengthened by all the connections he’d made, but she and Terra and Ven and all his other friends were those connections. They were his living, breathing legacy. Surely that counted for something.

“Yeah,” Ven replied. “It’s the least we can do.”

She and Ven comforted each other for a while after that, talking about what had happened and where they might find Sora. Ven went to bed a few hours later, exhausted at long last, and she couldn’t help the queasy, panicked feeling that rose in her gut as he closed the door behind him. 

Alone. She’d spent so much time alone. Terra and Ven’s backs were always to her. They were always walking away, always leaving her behind. She could reach and reach for them all she wanted, but they wouldn’t turn around and grab her hand. The one person who had grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the darkness was gone. He was in a pit of despair of his own now that no one could reach. Their savior needed saving, and she could only imagine how scared and lonely he must be. Cut off from everyone and everything he knew and loved.

She couldn’t help herself. Hot tears stung her eyes and wove sticky trails down her cheeks. For Sora and for herself. Sora deserved all her tears, but crying for herself was completely selfish. Irrational. The more she thought about it, the more frustrated she got with herself. Why was she crying? Terra and Ven were still here in the castle with her. They hadn’t left her behind and hadn’t willingly abandoned her to the realm of darkness for all those years. And yet she couldn’t help but feel completely and utterly isolated and alone.

“Stop that, Aqua,” she muttered, scolding herself. “You’re not alone. You’re back here in the realm of light with your friends. Sora’s the one you should be crying for, not you. You don’t deserve any tears. If you hadn’t frozen up in the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora wouldn’t have had to rescue everyone, and if he hadn’t had to rescue everyone, then saving Kairi later on wouldn’t have killed him.” She scowled angrily at the teddy bear holding a red heart that Terra had gotten her to make up for being such a downer about her Keyblade Master ceremony.

“Some Keyblade Master I am,” she told it. “I’m nothing but a failure. A weakling.”

“I disagree,” came a soft, low voice from the direction of the doorway. She squeaked and dropped the teddy bear. Ven must not have closed the door all the way, because she could make out someone else standing in the doorway.

“Terra?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I posted Touch Hunger a little over two years ago, and at the time a guest commenter said I should write a companion touch starvation fic about Aqua. Well, that stayed in my head ever since, and I finally found the time and spurt of inspiration to write it. The next chapter will be posted next Friday. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

[xekutozoren]

My version of Aquaroth/Sephqua (explanation rant)

Felt like explaining how I got into it. It's interesting how Tumblr seems to support it quite a bit but Pinterest is like ??? to it.

I guess I initially just wanted a character that wasn't really involved in the main KH story to appreciate Aqua for who she is and what she does. Aqua seems to give a lot to others to the point where she sacrifices her own ideals and herself. And the in-game characters don't do much for her imo.

I do still support Terraqua so it's Sephqua in a universe where Terra never ends up reciprocating her feelings. I can't deny how many times I got annoyed at Terra for not really showing he cares about Aqua like, at all.

And then KH3 happened and a lot of stuff in it made me annoyed too. Examples include no apologies happening between her and the Wayfinder trio, Ven not showing much appreciation for her, her getting tossed around after vamping her up and bringing her back, the game shifting the focus onto Riku when she was finally pouring out her feelings, Sora and Kairi not even remembering her etc. I get that a lot of these things could have happened offscreen/isn't really justified but it still made me feel the game just kind of abandoned her/treated her as a plot device.

After seeing some fanmade content about Sephqua I tried exploring it myself. I admit that I haven't actually played/watched FF7 so I really only know Sephiroth based off his wiki page and existing Sephqua content. My interpretation of him is also a bit loose and more working off his KH2 almost non-existent screen time as an excuse for doing what I want with his character. At this point he would be similar to his pre-Nibelheim self with a touch of snark. He sees visions sometimes of his canon-verse self but hasn't gone through all of that in this universe and is still capable of redemption. He's merely "the darkness of Cloud" as the KH verse called it, trying to find his purpose in my makeshift universe. His age would be more ambiguous to make the pairing work better (though Aqua being stuck down there for 12 years makes up for the difference anyway)

And one of the biggest things was ANGST COMFORT FOR AQUA'S PAIN.

I like the idea of him meeting her in the Realm of Darkness, intrigued why she refuses to give up despite no one seeming to really care about her, etc. At first, he'd just treat her as something to pass the time and not really care about her well-being but that changes eventually. >w> He is also drawn to her strength both physically and mentally.

I imagine she would be guarded towards him at first but eventually let her walls down a tinsy bit. But then she'd be furious with herself for going against Master Eraqus' ideologies and being worried what he might think of her being acquainted with someone who's full of darkness. But she eventually learns to go after what she wants, not what someone else expects of her. I like that dynamic of Sephiroth teaching her to be more selfish and her helping him find his light again.

In the AU, I'd like to see something play out that didn't in KH, which was Aqua being saved after the others. Though it wouldn't really make sense how they'd reach Ven first but it would be satisfying to see the other two do something for her for once. Sephiroth would be with her getting out of there and have to earn the trust of the keyblade gang/get over the fact that he's with warriors of light. His god complex eventually fades overtime as his feelings develop for her.

I like the idea of the two of them learning each other's vulnerabilities overtime as well as how to trust each other. It would be really interesting to see Aqua helping Sephiroth uncover the truth behind his biological parents too.

Sephiroth's need for comfort with the lack of a proper motherly figure and Aqua's need for someone to properly appreciate and acknowledge her. They love each other for who they are, not who they're expected to be.

Another big thing for me is how their interactions would go. I'm a simple woman and like banter in relationships. > w < Sephiroth would tease her a lot and Aqua would get embarrassed easily.

That and I notice Aqua likes physical affection like hand holding and head patting in the games so it would be nice to have someone like Sephiroth who I imagine would be more hands on with her.

Not sure if anything I wrote here made sense. I typed this up pretty late. Gonna leave it there with one more doodle.

Refs are from Positively Yours, hana and a username that I don't really want to type publicly ^^;

Thanks for reading my spam! ; A ;

[mimiplaysgames]

Terra Meets Aquanort: An Excerpt

Requested by @romy350-romyakari, this is an excerpt from the second (and last) part to my Terraqua-Aquanort fic, A Rush of Blood to the Head. It’s been a little more than two months since I put up the first part (yikes - I had reasons, shhhh). It took me a while to write a part that I thought would make a good excerpt to share - this fic is literally half-fluff, half-angst (if you don’t know my writing, I tend to say ‘to hell’ with labels). So thank you so much for waiting so long! This part will be titled “One Gain.” It will be up in a couple of weeks, so I hope it is enjoyable. Subject to editing.

What hurt the most were his obliques. He gripped them as leaned onto his Keyblade. At least he wasn’t thrown down. He waited for his opportunity, and it looked like she was waiting for the same. The smoky shadows that cascaded out of her long black sleeves still formed those annoying whips, but she kept them close.

The woman made the next move. She flailed her right arm first before closely following it with her left. Terra maintained his defensive stance, blocking each strike as she continued to wail at him. He could feel that he was getting a bit more sluggish every second. So he darted the next strike and sprinted at her with all his might, raising the incredibly heavy Ends of the Earth to hit her as hard as he could.

She dodged, and dodged again. He stopped, and there they waited. Again, there was that itching feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something about the way she was moving. It was acrobatic. It happened at all the exact moments that never left him surprised.

He kept his Keyblade close and he breathed hard. What was worse than being this injured and fighting a new enemy this powerful was the thought that was threatening to leave his mouth.

And he didn’t have the strength to keep it in. “Aqua?”

The shadows didn’t exactly dissipate. They crawled right back into her sleeves, gloved hands forming after it was all done. She started to remove the hood that was hiding her face.

It was as though the hand that was holding his Keyblade became weak. It felt like his face went cold, and he was floating in the air as he forgot the pain he was under. Her hair had gone mostly white, save for the roots which were still blue. Her eyes were bright as always, but instead of bearing that enamoring azure color that he kept a memory of all these years, they were amber. And they were furious.

All at once, Terra forgot he was breathing.

[wayfiind-a-blog]

Terra knocks gently on Aqua's door with a knuckle, a plate of fresh cooked food in his free hand. It was early, yes, but after everything that had happened -- after all the damage /he/ had done and all the pain he had put his two most cherished friends through -- he wanted to do /anything/ he could to make it up to them. "You awake in there, Aqua? I've made breakfast."

“ oh, terra… ”

there’s a mixture of sleep and surprise lingering in her voice as she pushes herself into a more proper sitting position, slim fingers swiping gingerly at her eyes to clear them. then she’s padding to the door, peering carefully around it to hide her still-disheveled visage ( and pajamas ). she doesn’t mention the brief moment of panic his knocking had brought about in her, or the flicker of hesitance that first followed his voice. the thought that it might be him, but not him that would greet her across the threshold.

but it’s just terra, her terra, with the most delicious-smelling meal she thinks she’s ever laid eyes on. she can’t help but smile at the sight of first him then the meal. foregoing her usual modesty just a bit, she shoves the door aside in favor of facing him properly, leaning up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“ it looks delicious, thank you. ” and so does he she thinks silently but immediately crushes it to minimize the vibrant red that rises to her cheeks. instead, she grins and jokes, “ good morning, by the way. how did you know i was craving eggs and toast today ? ”

[ladyvialana]

Title: Talking to Myself

Song: Talking to Myself

Artist: Linkin Park

Length: 3:52

Format: .mp4

Size: 75MB

"I'll always be there to bring you back."

What is love if not hope that you can be saved?

Pairings:

Sora/Riku, Aqua/Terra, Axel/Roxas/Xion

Notes:

Footage from KH1.5, KH2.5 & KH2.8 used

Alternate Links

Ao3

Mediafire

Youtube