A/N:
Disclaimer – I am not part of the copyright/s for the Kingdom Hearts video game series or any of its affiliates. I realize that therefore, my fanfiction only exists out of the grace and mercy of the real copyright holders. I do not intend to make any monetary profit from writing this.
Random inspiration, ahoy! This was originally planned to be for Winds of Change, but it got too long, and I didn't want to cut anything.
Xehanort melted from the shadows before her, bearing a wicked smirk. As he continued to approach, his features morphed to first his younger self and then Vanitas, always with the same grin, and finally...
"Aqua," Terra purred, with his horrible gold eyes, and stopped at the foot of her restraints. Xehanort's Keyblade materialized in his hand.
"Terra," she heard herself beg. "Please, I know you're in there, please –"
"Cease that useless whining. He is no longer here." Terra raised his blade. "I ask you again. Bring Ventus to us."
"No," Dream-Aqua spat.
Let me out! she cried, beating against the barrier in vain. Let me change this!
"As you wish." And that terrible blade plunged itself into her chest and summoned up memories of Darkness, of pure despair, of pain and pointless sacrifice again and again as Aqua felt herself fall into the dream and suddenly the pain became real, there was nothing else but the torture and anguish and please, someone help, she almost sobbed through her screams, someone end this –
Aqua jolted awake with a raw throat and the echo of her screams still ringing through the house.
Her bedroom door was thrown open with a bang, Aqua suddenly back in her nightmare as a familiar silhouette appeared in the doorway. She screamed again, kicking her sheets away and mindlessly flinging herself back, crashing painfully into the bedpost. "No, stop, please –" She reached for her Keyblade.
"Aqua, it's okay, it's okay!" another person shouted, shoving his way past the terrible silhouette and snapping her trance.
"Ven," she gasped, her hand dropping.
Ven wrapped his arms around her as soon as he reached her side. "It's okay, Aqua, it was just a dream," he whispered, squeezing her for a brief moment in comfort. She hugged him back desperately, choking on a sob. "It's okay," he repeated, beginning to rub circles on her back like the Master had always done after Ven's old nightmares.
As she cried on his shoulder, she could hear worried murmurs just outside the door, including Terra's calmer one.
"Turn on the light," Aqua eventually whispered, "please."
"Terra," Ven said, not moving except to continue rubbing circles. "The light."
His silhouette glanced back before nodding and reaching over to flick the switch.
The light chased away the shadows in her mind, and Aqua blinked in it gratefully. She hesitated, swallowing down her fear, before forcing herself to look at Terra. Even though the dream was truly gone now, seeing his figure made the fresh memories burn; she had to bite her lip to hold back a grimace, quickly glancing away. She couldn't miss the flicker of hurt that went across his face.
Look at his eyes. She did so, forcibly raising her eyes again to meet his for a brief second. The blue, untainted by gold, and the concern in them helped brush away the fear. She saw the others too, gathered past the door in mutual worry, but she couldn't scrounge up a smile to comfort them.
"Aqua," Terra said carefully, as if she was a startled animal. "Do you need me to leave?"
It had happened before, when the terrors were so bad that whimpers and horrible flashbacks came just seeing him or hearing his voice; everyone had to work something out so they wouldn't meet. Only a few nights ago, he'd been forced to back into the hall after a particularly bad nightmare. She was still receiving continual esuna-panacea treatments in the hope that it would work.
"It's fine," she eventually replied, trying to sound strong. "But all of you should go back to sleep. Don't stay up for me." Aqua let go of Ven and brushed away his rubs, ruffling his hair. "You too. You're still fifteen, you know."
"No one will stop reminding me," he grumbled, but there was a smile on his face as he got up from her bed.
"Now shoo." She waved her hand at the lot of them. "Away with you."
She thought that some of them probably found it almost comical – a previously frenzied young woman, her face still red from tears of fear, now calmly asking everyone to leave. But after a moment, they all began to depart, Ven following behind them. Terra moved to do the same, but Aqua said, "Wait."
He paused, looking back at her.
She patted the bed in front of her. "Sit."
Terra walked over cautiously. "Aqua, are you sure –?"
"Yes, it's fine." She smiled a little as he sat down. "I think the esunas are really working. It's gotten better." It wasn't a complete lie; seeing him so close to her made the memories flicker painfully, but she found it possible to push them away, at least to the back of her mind, if she kept him at the edge of her vision.
This pain should be nothing compared to her years in the Realm of Darkness. If sheer determination was what it took, that's what she would give.
"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, "for what I did to you."
Aqua shook her head. "That wasn't you."
"Yes it was, not too long ago." Terra fell silent, looking away from her. "I should've never fallen for Xehanort's lies," he eventually said, bitterly. "If I hadn't, none of this would've happened." Aqua knew he wasn't just talking about her nightmares.
"You can't blame everything on yourself," she said. "If it has to go somewhere, it belongs to Xehanort." Aqua added a teasing note to her voice. "Besides, I thought this was supposed to be about me. Don't hog all of the comfort, Terra."
He blinked at her, and then a rueful smile spread across his face. He shook his head with a chuckle. "Sorry for being the better brooder." He paused and then added more softly, "I wish I was as strong as you."
Aqua inhaled in surprise. From Terra, that was a serious compliment. "That's funny," she eventually admitted. "I always thought the same of you."
Another smile curved his lips, but he didn't otherwise respond.
They sat in silence for a few more moments before Terra got up. "I should go," he said. "Ven's probably waiting outside, wondering why I haven't come out."
Aqua nodded. "Right."
For a brief second, she wanted to do something. Hug him, maybe, something she hadn't done since before this whole fiasco a dozen years ago. But the mere thought made her suppress a shudder, and she realized that she wasn't ready for any kind of physical contact with him – not yet.
Terra glanced at her as if suspecting her thoughts before heading towards the open door and reaching for the light switch.
"Wait."
He paused, his hand left hovering.
"Leave the light on," Aqua said softly. "Please."
Terra smiled, strangely a bit sad, and nodded, leaving the light switch untouched as he quietly closed the door behind him.