To Muse in the Dark
As Terra traveled the Lanes Between, surrounded by the darkness that existed between the worlds, he thought about the darkness in his own heart, the darkness that threatened to spill out during his test for the Mark of Mastery. He knew what that darkness was, and what had triggered its attempted release, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why; why would Aqua, his dear friend, the friend he'd known since he'd been a young boy, why would her outperforming him for a moment provoke such a strong reaction of jealousy in him? It wasn't because he disrespected her, it wasn't that he was like the men of certain worlds that he'd been to, worlds in which a woman outperforming a man would have been unthinkable, it wasn't like that at all. Yet, somehow, the thought of Aqua being stronger, better suited to facing the darkness than him, was disquieting.
Then it hit him; if she were the stronger, and she were overwhelmed, outmatched by an Unversed or whatever other monster of darkness was out there, how could he hope to help her, to protect her?
He swore in his heart that he would become stronger, and even if this desire fed the darkness, he would overcome that too, no matter what.