⁂ once upon a time, we fell apart

[rainprism]

Who: Aqua [rainprism], Ventus [feverpitching], Terra [todomarishi], possibly Roxas [pullsheavendown] and Xion [mirroredmemory] later
When: after arriving home/this thread
Where: House of Departure, Sector 4
Summary: Aqua returns to Siren's Port and has a lot to fill her friends in on.
Warnings: None foreseen. ... Except probable angst. Will update if necessary.



[Home at last. The remaining walk with Ven is quiet, but it's spent arm-in-arm with him, the trip dotted with a few pauses for hair ruffling and general reassurance. Seeing the house, however, is enough to make her swoon, but she has the presence of mind to set Ven to task tidying up the kitchen before the two of them even cross the threshold of the front door.

Her younger friend darts off to prepare their living space for the company due later in the evening, but ... Aqua lingers in the doorway for a full minute, her arms wrapped around herself, slowly indulging herself in every detail of the house. The umbrella rack. The coat closet. The higher ceiling in the dining room -- and the rough designs of the texturized paint on that ceiling. Even something as mundane as the sound of the running AC unit is startlingly vivid. The difference between being in the glare of the sun and stepping inside into controlled, lukewarm, artificial light is a whole new obstacle to overcome. Her first shuffling footfalls into the actual building structure are unsure, quiet.]

Hello ... ?

[As if Ven's march into the kitchen and the ensuing noise isn't indication enough, she calls out for the third resident of their household.]

Terra ... we're home.

Comments

[rainprism]

[Vacantly -- ]

Where I've been.

[He suspected correctly. Reluctantly, she released his arm so that she could sit in her favorite spot, suspecting that he would take up his usual station across the living room. Odd, what a person remembers ... it's almost like she's watching a scene unfold from the outside looking in. Like she's rewatching a favorite movie for the first time in years, or picking up a forgotten book and skipping back a chapter to refresh her memory. It's just ... surreal.

Feeling quite literally beside herself as she takes a seat not across from him but beside him, she carefully crosses her legs and interlaces her fingers over her knee nervously.]

It hasn't been long in the Port, I know ... [He somehow repels her gaze and she's scanning the carpet, blinking deftly as her breathing slows. When she speaks again, her tone suggests that she's saying one thing, but meaning another.]

... I'm really happy that you two are alright.

[ I'm really happy that you two are still here. ]

It's been a long ... long time for me. [A brief, shallow smile. She's dancing around the subject, proceeding with less grace than she did with Ven, but ... at least she's going somewhere.]

I found you. After I heard you calling, I mean ...

[todomarishi]

[Her empty reply slows the steps he takes to his seat, but he soon settles there and readies himself for whatever story she has to tell. He watches her closely, giving her his undivided attention, but the smile he wears is distant and tension bends his upper body so that his arms lay in his lap and his hands, curled into loose fists, rest on his legs.

He nods his head slightly when she confirms her knowledge of how long it's been since she left. He forces a wider smile when she adds that she's happy, really happy he and Ven are okay. Then that smile vanishes altogether at the news that it's been so much longer for her back in their worlds.

He doesn't say anything if only because he's not sure there's anything he can say that would be right for the moment, that wouldn't be an interruption or some frivolous comment. But he makes sure to never look away from her.

... Until she gets right to the heart of the matter, that is. He joins her in studying the floor at that point.

It takes him a minute to compose an answer.]

You found my body.

[It couldn't have been him she'd found. It had to have been his body or any of those incomplete existences that came afterward.]

[rainprism]

No!

[She shakes her head just as firmly as can be, making a deliberately negative gesture with her hand and yanking her gaze from the floor and locking it on her friend with the outburst before she abruptly quiets down.]

No ... I mean ... [A frown as she leans forward.] ... It was your body, and ... it had been ... [Frown deepens.] ... compromised.

But I'm sure that you were still there, too. I felt it.

[Now her expression softens, though she wrings her hands once or twice with urgency.]

I wouldn't have done what I did if I didn't believe that ... with all of my heart.

[todomarishi]

[Startled by her shout, Terra's head snaps up, his eyes wide and focused right back on her face. Even though that surge of emotion ends up being short-lived, he finds himself a little more guarded in his reactions to the information she's giving him piece by fragile piece.]

My heart.

[He offers cautiously after a minute, opening his hands and turning them palm-up. His heart had been with his body. She might have felt that, but... His heart had been powerless against the darkness Xehanort's heart had commanded. At least, from what he'd seen and heard, it had been.

Lowering his head, he lets his hands fall back to his legs.]

You wouldn't have done what you did... [He doesn't like the sound of those words at all.] What did you do?

[rainprism]

I fought him. [A pause as her gaze falls from Terra down to her lap, where her hands fidget lightly with one another.] I fought ... for you. And I thought I won.

[Deep breaths, Aqua. Don't stop now.]

Master Xehanort ... in your body ... he turned his Keyblade on your body and fell into darkness.

[Stealing a glance upward nervously, trying to measure and gauge his reactions. Mumbled --]

So ... I went in after you.

[And even more quietly.]

My armor and Glider pulled you out before the portal closed. I didn't... make it in time.

[ ... More like she fell freely into darkness after saying her goodbyes to him and everyone else.]

[todomarishi]

[He's staring. He can't help it. It's all so easy to imagine it's like he's watching flashes of the events she's describing play out before his eyes. Master Xehanort's Keyblade, darkness everywhere...]

What...?

[He's back up on his feet in an instant. What is the wrong question.]

Why? Why did you do that?

[His own outburst startles him, but this time he doesn't try to temper his feelings. He's angry all of a sudden -- angry and horrified.]

What do you mean you didn't make it in time?!