Hello everyone! I woke up to a new FFVII trailer, and the best way to celebrate is by posting the first chapter of a brand new fic! You read that right, the FIRST CHAPTER! Been a while since I wrote multi chap fics. To be completely honest with you guys, chapter 2 isn't fully written yet and I cannot guarantee when this will be updated, but it won't be a weekly update. Hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

Now that they were back, the days in the Land of Departure looked all the same to Aqua. She woke up right before sunrise. Took a quick breakfast. Jogged around the world for an hour. Came back. Took a shower. Greeted Terra and woke Ven up. Trained some more with both of them. Had lunch together. Spent the afternoon reading, training some more with Terra for his next exam, playing board games with them, or crafting some more wayfinders. Had dinner together. Shared some of their dearest memories of their late Master with Ven who loved listening to them. Went to sleep. Started again.

It was monotonous, but comforting. After years spent wondering if there was going to be a tomorrow, feeling the wind blow on her face and seeing the sun rise and set was all she could dream of. She was next to her friends. She could see their face whenever she wanted to ; if any of them had a nightmare or troubles sleeping, they would all huddle together and talk until everyone was safely asleep. She could eat proper food, have warm showers and even baths. She didn't have to fear for her life or her safety. This was the haven she needed right now.

But this was also the reason she noticed right away when something became different. She knew the second she woke up : it was an hour earlier than she usually did. She knew the second she accidently dropped her cup of tea and spilled her precious drink. She knew the second she decided that her jogging circuit would be different this day. Her steps took her deeper into the forest than where she usually go. She couldn't explain why today was different. Today was different and it was a fact. And there was something deep inside the forest that just called to her, that lured her. It was a silent siren's song and her heart succumbed to it.

She knew this place. Of course she did, as she spent more than a decade on this world, exploring every inch of it, but this place was special to her. It was a quiet clearing where she could meditate and look at the stars, clearing her mind far from the Castle and the endless study. She used to come a lot here when she was an apprentice, but she had not set foot here since they all came back. This was the perfect place for stargazing. But never in her life had she seen a star in the middle of her clearing.

It was floating in the middle of the place, its light not too bright ; had it not been night, she might not even have seen it. This wasn't a real star, as in, an actual world shining in the sky, but whatever that was, it was star shaped, faintly glowing, and she was sure it wasn't there before. She took an careful step forward, then another one. Soon enough, she was close enough to touch it, but as she tried to, the star flew away, dashing a few feet backwards, and she jumped back too with a gasp, surprised it moved. Now this had all her attention. She walked closer again, but this time, the star didn't wait to be touched to escape, and she chased it all around the clearing, unable to catch it, but noticing it would never try to escape through the trees, or fly away in the sky.

"Now, what are you?" she asked, slightly out of breath, staring at the pointy light in the air.

"Who knows…" Was is the wind? She could have sworn she heard a voice, but there was no one around. Could it be the star itself?

"Did you… Did you just talk?"

Only silence answered. It was definitely the wind. Of course it was the wind. She didn't sleep as much as she usually did, and she didn't have her morning tea. Her mind wasn't clear. How could this star talk? She shook her head. Sun was beginning to rise. It was time for her routine. She looked back at the star who had started to float aimlessly again, and smiled. Stars didn't talk. Whatever it was, she would think about it later. It was time to go.

The day went by as normally as it could. She didn't even mention the star to Terra and Ven. She had not forgotten about it, but set it aside in a corner of her mind for later notice. They trained, had lunch, trained some more and soon enough it was bedtime and she was back in her bed. She sat up, looking at the night sky. The stars were beautiful tonight. She once had learnt the name of every constellation ; she remembered at least 70% of them. She thought about her mysterious star. What was it? Was it something her mind made up because she was tired? She couldn't think of any other explanation. She would fall asleep early tonight, get plenty of rest, and tomorrow would be better. Monotonous and comforting.

When she woke up, the moon was still up in the sky. She felt it might be even earlier than the morning before. And she still could feel it, that tingling, that urge to get up and go back to the forest. This time, she took a huge cup of coffee, making sure she was fully awake. She grabbed a coat, as the wind might still be chilly that early in the morning, and, after a second thought, a scarf and a thermos for her coffee. Even if the star had been just a dream, there were plenty more in the sky she could take some time to look at.

The clearing was empty. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment. Of course, it had been just a dream. It made sense. She didn't even understand how she could have believe it was real: a star floating in the middle of nowhere? She just needed some sleep. The events of these past few years had been rough for everyone, she had to take it easy. She lied down on the grass, staring at the night sky. It was beautiful, and really peaceful. She should come over more often. Here, it felt as if there was nothing wrong left in this world. Just silence, the nice one, the comforting one. This place carried nothing but good memories. Maybe it felt even more home than home itself.

She was lost in her thoughts when she saw something from the corner of her eye. A firefly? She slowly turned her head, careful not to scare the bug away, but it was no bug. Her star was back.

"So you are real," she whispered with a smile. "I know I'm not dreaming this time." The star seemed to be startled by her voice, and it flew a bit further away from her. She carefully sat up, showing her open hands. "I mean no harm. Come over here! I won't hurt you. I promise." Could it understand her words? She had no idea, but at least her gentle voice seemed to reassure the star, as it flew closer, although keeping a safe distance between them. Aqua chuckled. "It's okay. Take all the time you need. I'm planning to spend the whole night here - what's left of it, anyway."

She lied on her back once again, looking at the stars, trying to remember their names. Trying to find out which ones were actually worlds she visited. She wished she could visit them, but as a Master, she knew it would be irresponsible to risk the world order when there was no sign of trouble. And as someone who went through so much, she didn't mind spending a bit more time home. Having the star by her side felt comforting, for reasons she ignored. It felt like a silent friend, someone who was there, someone who would listen. She knew this made no sense whatsoever, but this felt nice. She must have fallen asleep, because the sun was up when she opened her eyes. It was still morning, not really late, though, so she still had time for her usual schedule. Much to her surprise, the star was still here, even closer to her than it had been when she fell asleep. She could almost touch it now - not that she would risk it, though, remembering how it escaped last time. Instead, she smiled at it, and gently stretched, making sure to avoid any sudden movement that could alarm her silent friend, before slowly getting to her feet.

"I have to go for now, but I'll be back next night, if you don't mind?" The star twinkled, and Aqua laughed, a bit surprised. "I'll take that as a yes. See you tomorrow! Oh, and by the way, I'm Aqua. It's nice spending time with you."

"A...Qua."

This time it definitely wasn't the wind. And not an hallucination either. She was fully awake, there wasn't a sound, and yet a voice said her name. She gasped, stepping back. "So you can talk! I knew it!"

Was it her voice, that was too loud? Was it the flock of birds that flew away from the trees? No matter what it was, something scared the star away, and it flew away into the trees so fast Aqua barely saw it move. "No, wait! I didn't mean to... I'm sorry!" She tried to chase it, but she couldn't find it anywhere. The star was gone.

She returned to the castle, slightly disappointed. She hoped the star would be there tomorrow as well. If it could really talk, this changed the whole perspective of it. She wanted to know more about it. Where was it from? What was it really? She had no idea, but she wanted to know. It wasn't everyday you could meet a talking star. And yet she now wished it would somehow be her everyday.

"Oh, Aqua, you're back later than usual," Terra said as she walked into the training room. Ven was here too, practicing his sword moves.

"I stopped by the forest. Had not been there in a while. You are up early, Ven."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep tonight. Everytime I closed my eyes, I... Well, it just took me a while to fall asleep, and in the end, I woke up on my own."

Nightmares. They were used to them. All three of them. Aqua dreamt she was drowning in never ending Darkness, and that nobody came looking for her, because nobody cared about her. Terra dreamt about losing control once again and hurting them. He didn't talk much about it, but there were nights she'd find him sitting in the kitchen, staring at his hands, tears in his eyes, and he finally confessed about it. What if he comes back, Aqua? What if I... When that day comes, end me. Please. I cannot hurt you. She had shaken her head and took his huge hands in her small ones. Not when. If. And this isn't going to happen. He's gone, Terra. And I know you will never hurt us.

But what were Ven's nightmares about? He never talked about them. When they asked, he would just say he didn't remember, he just remembered being scared. Sometimes he would make things up, and the lie was obvious, but they never pressed him. They were just sad he wouldn't open to them.

"Yeah, the night's been short for everyone, I see," Terra sighed, and Aqua noticed the dark circles under his eyes. So all three of them had troubles sleeping that night. That wasn't really surprising. Aqua wondered if there was anything they could do for the nightmares to finally stop.

"How about we have a picnic for lunch?" She offered with a smile. "Lifting everyone's spirit up."

"A picnic? I'd love that!" This was almost enough to remove that haunted spark from Ven's eyes ; but almost enough wasn't enough, and Aqua couldn't help but feel helpless at this.

"Sounds nice. I have an suggestion. Let's fight, and the loser is the one preparing the sandwiches." Ven gasped, looking at Terra and quickly throwing his practice sword away to summon his real Keyblade.

"You'll be sorry, Terra! Bring it on! I'll have three cucumber sandwiches, you might want to start preparing them right now!"

Aqua laughed, calling her own weapon. This was the best way they all had to change their minds. Practicing more and more. They were all really conscious about how they lost before because they had not been strong enough, and getting stronger was what kept them going.

"The weather is so nice today. I wish I could stay here forever."

" Ven, you still need to study. Stay here as long as you wish... until the end of our break and then we're going back to the Castle. Today were going to learn proper etiquette when addressing Monarchs, it's going to be a lot of fun!"

"Yaaay, I can't wait..." He said with a sigh. "Ah, Terra, hope my sandwiches are ready!"

Terra was bringing a tray full of food. They were having lunch on the picnic table behind the Castle, and Aqua had brought the drinks ; but Terra, as the loser of the fight, had worked on the food.

There was a lot of unsaid behind his defeat. He had winked at Aqua, whispering loud enough for Ven to hear that he didn't want the boy to lose, but Aqua knew there was something more than that. Ven had gone stronger, strong enough for both of them to attack him with their full strength ; but Terra feared that strength. He feared Darkness might come back. He feared it so much it held him back when he fought. This was why he lost against Ven, against Aqua. It wasn't a lack of strength. It was a lack of faith in himself.

They all took a bite into their sandwiches, and for a while, no one talked. They were starving. Only once they were done did Terra talk.

"Aqua, did something happen? You look... somewhere else. Somewhere nice, I'd even say, given your smile."

Truth was, she had been thinking about her star. This event in her life was the best thing she could dream of : something mysterious she'd have to investigate, but something on this familiar Land where she could keep on having her regular life.

"Nothing, really, " she lied. It was a bit selfish, but as of right now, and until she knew more about it, she didn't want to mention the star to them. They would scare it, she knew that already. Terra had a permanent frown and Ven was loud. If the star was sometimes scared about her, there was no way it would accept these two. "I'm just happy we get to spend time underneath the same sky again. Happy to see the sun. Happy to share my life with you both. And happy I'm having these sandwiches. They are wonderful, Terra." Not a full lie, then. Half a truth. She was incredibly grateful for every second breathing air that wasn't reeking of Darkness. The boys beamed at her and she smiled back, until Ven tried to steal her dessert and it ended up in a sneaky fight.

She loved these boys.

Saying she was excited was an understatement. That night, she went to bed early, but set up an alarm to wake up three hours before sunrise. She had selected a few books, mostly about stars, and a torchlight to read them in the clearing. She had taken some leftover dessert (that cherry pie was too good to be wasted), some warm clothes. She was more than ready.

Finding sleep was hard ; not only wasn't she really tired, but her mind was running so fast she couldn't find the peace needed to fall asleep. In the end, she fell asleep just as late as she usually did, but with a rare grin on her face.

The alarm rang, and she was up within seconds. She made another bottle of coffee, grabbed her stuff and sneaked out, careful not to wake anyone up - not that Ven would wake up that easily, though. She hurried to her special spot, her hair still a mess from her bedhead, and her eyes only half open. But the star was here, circling in the clearing. It sparkled when she became visible, and she smiled. Could it be the star was expecting her? She walked closer, keeping the safe distance the star left the previous night, and she sat on the grass, drinking a bit of coffee.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting. Aren't you lonely, here on your own?" The star didn't answer, but it seemed really interested by her bottle. It flew closer, then shied away, again and again. She giggled. "That's coffee. I don't know if you can smell things, but it smells divine." She stretched out her arm carefully, holding the bottle in her hand. The star came closer, until it was just above the bottle.

"Smells... good."

Aqua chuckled. "So you can see, talk, hear, and even smell. That's really interesting. Who are you really?"

"Who... knows." These words. These were the first words the star said. The words Aqua believed might just be an hallucination. She had thought that perhaps, it could only repeat what she said, like a parrot would, but she had said the coffee smelled divine, not good, and who knows was definitely not something she had said. The star was fully able to talk. Maybe it had a limited vocabulary, but it understood her, and it could reply on its one. The longer she spent with it, the more fascinated she became.

"Do you have a name?"

"Name?"

"Yes, a name! I'm Aqua. Is there a name I can call you by?"

The star fell silent for a while. Aqua hoped she didn't say something wrong, somehow. She had taught Ven proper etiquette regarding addressing Monarchs, but she didn't know anything about addressing stars.

"No...Name."

There was something about the flow of its words. It always said the first one, paused for a while, then said the second one. As if talking wasn't something natural. For all she knew, it probably wasn't natural for stars anyway. She just hoped the pauses weren't because it was suffering.

"No name? So you don't have one, is that it?" This was a yes no question. This would be, she hoped, easier for the star.

"No...memory."

"You… You don't remember your name?"

"No."

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry." Was she being inappropriate, once again? She didn't want to hurt her new friend. A friend. This was a floating star who could only answer using two words to her questions, a faceless being, and she started regarding it as a friend. Life sure was lonely in the Land of Departure. "Would you like me to find you one?" The thought hit her suddenly, and she prayed she wasn't overstepping. "A name, I mean. I'd like to have something to call you by. If that's fine with you."

"Yes." Her smile grew wider. She would have to come up with a good one. This was a heavy task, and a very important one too. She couldn't mess up.

She clapped her hands, but the star didn't fly away. It trusted her now. She was glad. "Very well. I will think about it. Oh, what kind of name would you like? A female's name? A male's one? Something neutral?"

"Male." It didn't even think about it, and she smiled.

"Very well then. I hope I'll come up with something soon."

"Yes." The star sparkled and flew in small circles, and Aqua wondered if that was a sign of excitement. One thing was for sure, she was excited.

She lied down on the grass, opening one of her books and turning her flashlight on. For the rest of the night, she read out loud stories about stars for her shining friend.

To anyone who ever read Secret Place, the clearing is basically the same one ; I have this headcanon of Aqua having a quiet place where she can run to when she wants some alone time.

Please let me know if you enjoyed this first chapter, and make sure to follow the fic to know when the next one is posted :D