Disclaimer: I own nothing written about in this story. The pic I used for this is not mine either, it belongs to AquaxTerra on DeviantArt and all credit of the pic goes to her for that.

Awakening

AN: This first chapter is very short, but please note that the following chapters will be anywhere between 3000-10,000 words long. (Yes it varies quite a bit depending on my level of inspiration for each chapter.)

Chapter One – Miracle

Fading sunlight poured in through the bedroom window, its desperate yellow light splayed across the interior of the silent room, turning sky blue hair into a golden copper. Aqua squinted against the glare of the sunset as it sunk beneath the far off horizon. She sat in a chair near the window, watching as darkness claimed the landscape outside.

She closed her eyes and breathed a mild sigh, reflecting weariness and sorrow. It had been a number of years after those horrible events involving Xehanort and her former master Eraqus, so many that she had lost count. The fact that her body and the bodies of her friends not seeming to age even a day was an ever present element resulting in her losing track of the passage of time.

She hadn't however, lost count of a single day since he returned to her world. And even though his return was incomplete, she still had hope. Aqua turned to the man on the bed nearby, her cloudy eyes once again regarding his lifeless body with disappointment. It had been three months and ten days since Sora brought his body back, assured that although comatose, Terra would someday wake up.

She stood up from her chair and went to his side, staring down at him with the last remnants of hope that still clung to her heart. It was just like what Ventus had been through, what he had put them through, his best friends. Why was it both her boys had to do this to her? It seemed like all she could ever do was stand on the sidelines nearby, watching, waiting for them to succeed and come back to her.

Out of all her travels throughout worlds, there had been instances where the prince had woken his princess up from a forever sleep with just a kiss. She couldn't say that she hadn't tried it at least once, but sadly it hadn't worked, Terra just went on sleeping. Stubborn boy. Perhaps it simply wasn't true love between them? She certainly felt a terribly strong love for him, but maybe the same rules just simply didn't apply in their world. And there was no way of knowing if he had felt the same... Not now anyway.

Twining her right hand fingers with his left, she lowered her forehead to his in a feather light touch. The pain in her heart overwhelming her and overflowing in her voice. "Come back to me Terra," she whimpered quietly, tears starting to flow down her brows, then to her forehead. "I miss you, so much..." Her eyes glistening with heartache, she failed to notice her tears had begun rolling off her forehead and onto his.

With a perfect symmetry, the moment his dark blue orbs opened was when she closed hers. It wasn't until she felt a gentle hand resting on the back of her head that her eyes popped open in astonishment. "A-Aqua?" Terra's hoarse voice croaked, his eyes were foggy as though he were blind.

"Terra!" Aqua gasped with astonishment. It was such a wonderful voice. His voice. And she hadn't heard it in so long! "You're awake!" she cried with delight and without hesitation she kissed his forehead tenderly. He merely blinked in response to the affectionate gesture and when he made a move to sit up Aqua helped him. "I've got to go tell the others, stay right there, I'll be right back!"

And with that she was running out the bedroom door, leaving a bewildered Terra to sit and ponder where he would even go if he didn't stay right there.

It soon became apparent that Terra had lost his memories... All of them. Much to Aqua's dismay. It seemed that he had only remembered her name and her presence to associate with it. Unfortunately that was all he could remember about her. It was somewhat of a comfort that he hadn't remembered Ven's name right away, though he seemed to recognize him at first.

Aqua and Ven had decided to take Terra to see master Yen Sid to see if the wizard could help restore Terra's memories. Sadly there was nothing he could do, though he assured them that with time and enough exposure to Aqua and Ven's hearts, their memories would trigger his, and he would eventually remember everything. Though there was no knowing how long the process would take.

After it had been restored to its former glory, Radiant Garden turned out to be a hub of activity, with friends and rivals alike, all striving to build a society with the intention of protecting the various worlds. Thus Aqua and Ven decided it would be as good a place as any to help Terra recover, both mentally and physically.

Most days, Ven spent his time helping to build the new guardian academy, of which Leon and Cloud were spearheading. The goal for such an academy was to train enough guardians in preparation should another disaster strike the worlds.

Ven was already a star pupil, Aqua knew, and before long he too would be a Keyblade master. Although, in many ways Ven was already a master, but he insisted that he finish the training and help with the academy building project. Thus he unknowingly left Terra to Aqua's care, although he spent as much time as he could with them, the majority of the time he wasn't around. It wasn't exactly negligence on his part, rather it was just Ven's natural inability to say no to anyone asking for help.

It had been a month since they brought Terra to Radiant Garden to recover. At first his memories dropped painfully slow, like snowflakes. But it seemed that he would remember a little more each day, as if multiplying like a rolling snowball. And then suddenly one day a great multitude came together like an avalanche, and he was so much like himself again, his old self.

And Aqua felt like she would never again need another miracle.