Work Text:
The first night back in the Land of Departure is easy.
They’re all so exhausted from the physical and emotional gambit they’ve been through in the Keyblade Graveyard that they all just pass out in Ven’s room. Terra’s sprawled over the floor and Aqua is slumped in the desk chair. They don’t complain the next day; Ven makes a joke when Aqua’s back cracks as she gets out of the chair. Terra snorts from the floor - she kicks his ribs.
They go through the day walking on eggshells around each other. Terra is unusually quiet, Ven does laps around the castle, and Aqua spends half the day sitting in a pool of sunlight in the throne room. Eventually they converge in the kitchen for some food; though Eraqus had taught them how to cook for themselves, the castle has a will of its own, and they find three plates loaded with steaming food on the table. Aqua and Ven share stories over the late lunch. Terra remains quiet, nodding or giving one word responses when the conversation drifts his way.
The second night is not as easy as the first. Aqua is restless in her bed, starting at shadows that aren’t even moving. After two hours, she gives up, throws a sweater over her pajamas and takes a walk. Ven is snoring away in his bed when she pokes her head into his room.
Terra’s room is empty.
An irrational fear grips her heart, but a gentle tug from her Wayfinder’s magic leads her outside. She lets it pull her up the lamp lit path to the summit, and there’s Terra, sitting on a familiar ledge near the practice rings.
“Can’t sleep?”
“…no.”
“I get that,” Aqua sighs, moving to sit next to him on the ledge. The very same spot she’d gifted him a Wayfinder half a lifetime ago.
“I just…”
She sees Terra’s hand clench into a fist where it rests on his knee. She waits.
“I just don’t understand how you could forgive me after everything. It’s all my fault.”
Aqua remains silent, and he keeps going.
“I close my eyes and I see everyone I hurt. You, Sora, Riku…Ienzo and the others…the Master. I’ve done such terrible things. Everything that’s happened is because I was stupid. I blindly trusted Xehanort and did exactly what he wanted. And you and Ven just take me back without a word?”
He drags his hand through his hair and chokes back a bitter laugh.
“If I’d listened to Ven that day…maybe he wouldn’t have lost his heart. And you…I’m the reason you fell into darkness. I don’t…how are you not furious with me?”
He exhales a sharp sigh of frustration.
“Sorry. It wasn’t fair of me to unload that on you.”
“Stand up, Terra.”
He looks up. Aqua is standing and moving to the other side of the training ground. In a flash, the Master’s Defender is in her hand, and she turns to face him.
“Take up your blade.”
He stands but hesitates, hand flexing, but not ready to summon his Ends of the Earth.
“I…I don’t want to fight you over this, Aqua.”
“This isn’t about what you want, Terra.”
She charges him then, and he hastily summons his Keyblade to fend her off. He blocks her incoming strike, expecting her to dance away to gain distance for ranged magic, as is her usual tactic, but she keeps close. Hard heavy strikes with the Master’s Defender make him nearly lose his balance until he is forced to jump to the side to have more room to maneuver.
“Aqua, why are you doing this?!”
“You think this is your fault?”
He blocks another strike from her, flinching at the force.
“You think you’re the only one who made mistakes?”
“I don’t-“ He cuts himself off as he dodges another swing, and the ground cracks where the Defender strikes.
He hardly has time to look up, let alone respond, before she is rushing him again. They clash a few times, and she pushes him towards the glow of the lamps surrounding the space. Terra freezes as he catches sight of her face. Tears stream down Aqua’s cheeks as she rushes him again.
“How do you think I feel?!”
Her strength is waning, and Terra is able to hold his ground as he parries her incoming attack.
“I was so arrogant. I thought I was so above you; I stopped trusting you, I stopped believing in you. You, Terra, my partner, my best friend. I didn’t even consider you were being manipulated, I just thought you’d succumbed to the darkness in your heart.”
She raises her blade and strikes against his again and again, each time weaker than the last.
“I couldn’t stop Vanitas…Ven lost his heart because I wasn’t strong enough to save him. He lost years of his life that he could have spent growing, exploring to his heart’s content. But I couldn’t save him.”
It’s her turn to laugh bitterly, letting the Master’s Defender go as she falls to her knees.
“And then…I thought I could save you. I thought I had. I let myself fall into darkness because I thought I was saving you. How do you think I feel, knowing that monster was able to destroy entire worlds because I couldn’t let my best friend go?!”
“Aqua, I…”
Terra dismisses his Keyblade and drops to one knee in front of her. She raises her head to glare at him, though tears still fall freely from her eyes.
“We all made mistakes, Terra. You, me, Ven, even the Master. How could I possibly withhold my forgiveness, when I’m one who needs your forgiveness? You don’t get to sit here and tell me it’s all your fault. It’s not fair.”
She leans forward enough so that her forehead rests on his right shoulder, and raises her hand to lightly beat against his heart.
“It’s not fair.” Her fist thuds gently over his heart once, twice, before she stops, leaning more of her weight into him.
“I’m so sorry, Terra.”
She sounds so broken. She sobs once against his chest and it shatters his heart. He throws his arms around her and lets his tears fall into her neck. By the time they both run out of tears, the sky is beginning to lighten ever so slightly. Terra gently lays a hand on the back of her head.
“Hey. You okay?” he murmurs, his voice low and raspy.
“…better. ‘m tired,” comes the sleepy mumble from his shoulder.
“Yeah, me too. C’mon. Let’s go inside.”
—
The third night is much, much easier.