It was Monday morning. In a large house fit for a family of ten, three people were going about their morning routines. The house sat upon a large hill and had a three-car garage. Currently, only two spaces were occupied. The house's entryway held marble floors and columns, a large staircase leading upstairs, and exquisite, expensive furniture. The kitchen was equipped with a double oven that was hardly ever used, and a massive refrigerator. The dining room had elegant chinaware that was starting to collect dust. Each bedroom had its own full bathroom and a full sized bed in each room.
Aqua woke up one minute before her alarm clock went off. It had become routine. She sat up and thought, "It was that same dream about him again. It's more like a nightmare now than a dream…" Her alarm clock rang shrilly and she hit the off button, put the dream in the back of her mind, and began to dress for the day ahead.
Aqua pulled her hair back into a small ponytail. Slowly, she put on her school uniform: A white blouse and navy blue tie, a matching blue jacket and skirt with white knee socks and brown shoes. She stared at herself in her full-length mirror. "Time to put on a smile for the world Aqua," she sighed putting on her smile that had seemed to fool everyone for the last year.
She went downstairs for breakfast. There, waiting for her as usual, were her bowl of oatmeal and a cup of black coffee. Roxas, Aqua's brother, was already downstairs finishing his own coffee. He was reading the newspaper like he did every morning, eyes scanning the page rapidly. He was the early bird; always up at dawn, and sometimes earlier. He was wearing his school uniform: A white button up shirt that was tucked in, plaid light blue pants with a black belt, black shoes, and a tie that matched his pants. His blond hair was spiked with the hair gel that he valued with his life. She thought that it was funny that even though they Sora and Roxas were twins, they were also polar opposites. Sora was strong and into athletics while Roxas was artsy and creative.
"Sora still sleeping?" Aqua asked as she sat down.
Roxas nodded, "You know that he doesn't get up until the fifth time his alarm goes off." Aqua sighed to herself and stirred her oatmeal around. Roxas looked up at her, "You had another dream about him didn't you?" He asked.
She stopped stirring her oatmeal, and replied "Yes, it's the same one over and over again: He's in my arms and the rain and my tears are falling on his head."
Roxas set the paper down and looked into her pure blue eyes and said "It wasn't your fault," he whispered, "it was that asshole of a driver. I still can't believe that he only spent a single night in jail for what he did."
"Yeah. I know what the judge said but… it just doesn't change how I feel inside." Aqua sniffled, "If I had watched where I was going or if I had just left him alone… maybe he would still be here." She began to pace the kitchen to help all of her thoughts flow. "I try to move on from that night, but every time I think I am over it, I have that same dream. Its like someone doesn't want me to forget what I did."
"You can't think in the past, otherwise you won't be able to move forward." Roxas replied.
Aqua smiled, "When did you become so insightful?" she asked.
"You have a lot of time to think when you wake up at dawn every day." He said with a grin. He drained the last of his coffee and Aqua finished her breakfast.
Just then, Aqua and Roxas then heard someone stumble down the stairs. Sora came running into the kitchen, struggling to get his tie on. "WHY DIDN'T YOU GUYS WAKE ME UP EARLIER?! I AM GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL AND MR. SIAX ALREADY HAS IT OUT FOR ME!" Roxas and Aqua could not help but laugh at Sora's ignorance. It always seemed to lighten the mood.
"Sora, its Monday. School doesn't start until 9:00 Am." Roxas told his twin with a chuckle.
Sora's facial expression went from panicked to ticked. "Then why am I even awake? I am going back to bed. Wake me up when we really have to leave." He said, turning to head back upstairs.
Aqua stopped laughing. "Hold on Sora!" She called, "We do have to leave now. You have to drive me to school."
Sora turned around with a moan, "Why can't Roxas drive you? I want to go back to sleep!"
"Because I drove her to school last week." Roxas replied, not even looking up from his paper.
Sora knew that he was beat. He let out a sigh, "All right fine. Aqua, meet me by my car, I have get my stuff for soccer practice after school and then we can go."
"All right." She answered. She put her bowl in the sink. She finished the last of her coffee and put the mug in the sink. She grabbed her briefcase for school and was about to walk out the door when she heard crashing and banging coming from upstairs.
"ROXAS, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH MY SOCCER BALL?!" yelled Sora as he stormed down the stairs. He stomped up to Roxas, who was organizing his sheet music for rehearsal.
"Why would I know where your balls are? You lost those a long time ago." Roxas said calmly as he straightened his sheet music, ignoring his brother's death glare.
"Don't joke; you were the last person who had it!" Sora cried. "You had it last night when you threw it at my head!"
Roxas shrugged, indifferent. "I throw a lot of things at your head. I only care if they knock you unconscious; not where they roll off to afterwards."
That answer made Sora furious. He lunged forward, snagged Roxas's music from his hand, and ran off with it.
"DANM IT SORA! GIVE ME BACK MY MUSIC!" Roxas screamed as he chased after the brunette.
"Then you tell me where the hell my soccer ball is!" Sora shouted as he dogged all the attempts that his brother made to retrieve his music.
"I told you that if you are looking for your balls then go ask the last girl that shot you down after you tried to ask her out! I'm sure she has them in a glass jar somewhere and is vigorously shaking them!" Roxas shouted back as he tried to keep up with his hyperactive brother.
"At least I try to ask a girl out. At school, all these girls swoon over you and would kill somebody if it meant going on a date with you. But you just shrug them of like they are nobody." Sora mocked Roxas as they chased each other around and around the dining room table. Aqua hoped that they wouldn't break any of the china. They didn't actually ever use it; but if they broke it, it would be a hassle to clean up.
"Its cause I am waiting for the right girl, not one of those girls that will leave me when something better comes along. I want something that is real!"
Finally, Roxas caught up with Sora and tackled him to the floor. He sat on his brother's back, curled his fingers into his hair and repeatedly slammed his head against the ground, shouting, "WHY ARE YOU SUCH A STUPID JOCK?"
"WHY. ARE. YOU. SUCH. AN. UP. TIGHT. PRISS?" Sora screamed back at the blonde in-between slams.
Aqua stood in the doorway and shook her head at her two brothers. This sort of thing had become a routine for the twins. Anything that they could potentially argue about they did; whether it was who ate the last piece of pizza, who took whose video game, or whatever. It was a never-ending list.
"Look you guys. I will just walk to class so you two can spend some time bonding or fighting or whatever you call it. Just remember that one of you has to pick me up at 5 o'clock."
Roxas stopped ramming Sora's head into the floor long enough to protest. "But I have music rehearsals right after school."
"Yeah and I have soccer practice. Riku and I get to whip the wimpy little freshmen into shape" Sora snickered; a truly evil grin on his face on his normally sweet face.
"That's why I said 5!" Aqua responded, exasperated, to the twins. They were finally getting off of each other after the early morning struggle. "I have to work on an experiment anyway to go along with my thesis and after class is the only time I have a chance to speak with my professor."
"Ohhh." The twins said in unison.
"Seriously boys, you have your brains for a reason."
"Hey I have 3 times the amount of brain that Sora has!" Roxas cried out.
"Wait… are you calling me dumb?" Sora tilted his head at the blonde, eyes confused.
"See? That is exactly what I mean!" Roxas exclaimed. "His head is a freaking coconut."
"I'LL SHOW YOU A COCONUT!" Sora shouted. He followed his exclamation by tackling his brother. Soon it was the same scene all over again; except Sora was on top of Roxas this time, slamming his head into the ground screaming "I AM NOT A COCONUT!"
"OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OW. OW." Was all Roxas was able to scream out, seeing that he did not have a high tolerance for pain.
Aqua rolled her eyes and as she exited the room, grabbing her briefcase on her way out the door.
The Ossment home was right in the middle of town and from that point you could get anywhere you wanted to go just by walking. It was convenient for Aqua because for the past year she had refused to drive anywhere. The night she lost Ventas would forever haunt her memories, and she would forever carry the burden of guilt she felt she deserved. She couldn't blame it on the drunk driver because she had been the one to run a red light. The drunk driver had merely swerved into her lane. After a long, dreadful process, the family could not form a case that would put the driver behind bars without Aqua winding up in the same position. In the end, the only thing that could be done was having the guy put in jail for being under the influence. But he was bailed out by some unknown benefactor shortly after.
As Aqua got closer to campus, her mind drifted deeper into her memories and her awareness dimmed dramatically. She ran into something that reeked of alcohol and body odor, dropping her briefcase in the process.
"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry," Aqua, stammered out, hardly able to believe that she was so lost in thought that she could be so ditzy. Who was she, Sora? "I wasn't watching where I was going."
The man that she ran into had a large, muscular body frame. He was wearing a red, worn out t-shirt with a brown coat and grimy blue jeans. His hair was dark brown and naturally spiky like Sora's, but not quite as spiky, and a bit longer. He didn't show much emotion on his face. He bent down and picked up her briefcase. He straightened back up and looked into her eyes.
"Its fine. No harm done." He said with no emotion what so ever in his voice. He handed the briefcase back to Aqua and continued down the street in the opposite direction.
Aqua looked back at the man she had only met for a few seconds and wondered "Why do I think that we have met somewhere?" She shook her head and pushed the thought away as she continued towards campus.
Terra looked back at her and sighed. "No harm done… at least, not this time."