⁂ 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

[todomarishi]

[After their conversation over the NV, Terra gets started on the self-appointed task of cleaning up the house. He doesn't get as much done as he'd originally hoped to: after putting away a few things, straightening up this and that, and shooing Oro outside, he finds himself standing in the hallway leading to his bedroom, his back pressed to one of the walls as he stares down at the floor.

He stays there until the light creak of the front door opening breaks the silence he's settled into. He hears Ven tromp off to... the kitchen, it sounds like, and then there's Aqua's voice...

Steeling himself against his own nerves, he pushes away from the wall and makes his way toward the front of the house. His resolve wavers when he reaches the entryway and he slows to a stop there.]

Hey.

[His eyes dart down for a split second and he takes an extra shuffling step forward to hide a wolf-chewed sock behind the folds of his hakama.]

Welcome back.

[rainprism]

[She's still taking in all of the engrossing details of the house visible from her point of immobility at the front door when his voice yanks her from her awestruck disorientation.

Her body jumps slightly at the simple greeting and her eyes are drawn to him immediately. Her expression ... it shifts from one of simple recognition to one of profound shock.

Slowly, a hand is drawn up to lightly cover her mouth, the fascination with the backdrop of the house now shifting over to a face she hasn't seen in ten years time. It's only after an uncomfortably long hesitation that she speaks, and when she does, it's through her fingers.]

h... Hey.

[The previously wayward Master is hopelessly torn on the matter of what sort of action to take. Her feet are rooted firmly to the ground, but her heart aches to hug her friend, to solidify what she sees as something more than just a vision that she beholds. Cautiously, she takes a half-step forward, but abruptly stops there.

... There is the matter of his eyes. Her paralysis has been reinforced by the glint of gold that still stained them like tarnish on silver.]

[todomarishi]

[What little confidence he'd managed to build up in approaching her promptly crumbles to dust when her eyes lock on his face and her fingers come up over her mouth. He holds her gaze, but he feels himself swallow against a knot that's suddenly caught in his throat.

Why she's looking at him the way she is, he can't be sure. As their reunion drags on in stillness and silence, he eventually gives in to the guess that her reaction has something to do with what was said on her NV entry.

Or what wasn't said, anyway.]

I'm sorry.

[Apologizing for that a second time can't hurt.]

[rainprism]

[Eyes widening in alarm, she shakes her head at his apology -- only slightly at first, but the motion becomes more exaggerated after a second or two.]

No ...

[Her voice almost cracks ... almost. But her hand does drop quickly back to her side.]

Don't apologize. It's fine.

[Shakily, she took a step forward ... and another.]

Everything is going to be okay now.

[And another step. At some point, her hands, which were held stiffly at her sides, have clenched lightly into fists. She would not have some grand emotional outburst and throw her arms around him and cause Ven to come running into the hallway and ...

She's smiling, but there are tears in her eyes.
It's Terra. Terra, Ven, their home ... the city ... the light. The reality of everything hits her all at once, but she will hold it together.]

W-Would you ... like to sit down? And talk a little?

[todomarishi]

[His overall position on the situation remains guarded, but his expression softens at her words and some of the tension leaves his posture. At first, he won't allow himself to look away from her. Though he holds his ground as she draws nearer to him, step by precarious step, he doesn't help close the gap between them.

He's not sure if he should, if he's supposed to.

He grew up with this someone, this friend of his who was once a girl and is now a woman and a Master. He used to know just what to say and just what to do when it came to being around her, but those brighter days they shared with Ven and the Master seem impossibly far away, ages and ages behind them, like memories of a past existence of his rather than those belonging to his present self.

Is it? Is it going to be okay? He wants to ask her, not because he can't believe her but because it would be so much easier if she could tell him why and how, how it's possible for it to be okay when so much is wrong because of him.

Terra ducks his head at her question, allowing himself one fleeting moment of weakness to glance toward the kitchen and recompose himself.

This isn't about him. It was never supposed to be about him. And everything is going to be okay now, for his dearest friends.]

Sure.

[He manages a smile when he looks back to her. While it's a small and more sheepish hint at a grin, it's warm and matches the light that's suddenly found its way into his eyes.

He holds his hand out, offering it to her to take.]

Should we go to the living room or did you want to sit down right here?

[rainprism]

[She almost laughs, adjusting a sleeve, which is drawn to an eye to wipe away a bit of excess moisture that threatens to escape down her cheek. No harm done. It's just like he said ... everything is fine.]

The living room. C'mon ...

[A very decisive answer, and she's already making her way down the hallway, brushing past him ... but curling her arm around his on her way through. He's may decide to pull away if he likes, especially after she gives it a long, reassuring squeeze... but the contact is enough to solidify her resolve to make it to the couches and cushions of the sitting area in the living room.]

There's a lot to talk about. I've already filled Ven in on the way, but ...

[But he's the next person who needs to know. Deserves to know. At least now, the tension and weight that hangs over the room is beginning to dissipate.]

[todomarishi]

But what? What did you fill Ven in on?

[Her experiences back in their dimension, he expects.

The last thing she'd remembered before was something about him asking to be destroyed...

Despite a flicker of discomfort on his part from both the forthcoming discussion and the physical contact, he doesn't pull his arm free on their way to the living room. He stops at the couch when they reach their destination and waits for Aqua to take a seat.]

[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?!