Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy a bit of Terra and Vaan! Reviews, please!

Disclaimer: Dissidia Duodecim belongs to Square Enix!

Wish Of The Heart

Again, she lost control over her body and powers. Kefka just couldn't leave her alone, could he? But she was helped, a friend had helped. The boy… Onion Knight. But inside her, she knew something wasn't right. It wasn't supposed to be him. No, it was supposed to be someone else. But… who? She couldn't remember anything. That world, Cosmos, her companions, was all her fragile mind could absorb. But yet, something was out of place.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked her as they ran to join Cecil, Firion and Tidus.

"Yes." She nodded. "I just… I don't know. I think I had to remember something, but I just can't."

"Don't try too hard." It was Onion Knight's child-like voice saying. "You might hurt yourself."

She smiled to the boy.

"No need to worry. I want to remember it."

She had her crystal now. That was supposed to be something to celebrate. But… why she felt like someone was missing? Shouldn't she be celebrating with someone other them those two that she was now with?

"If it's important, it's worth the effort." Cloud told her.

He said he had lost his dream. Why? Did his dream involve someone that wasn't present now? Was he feeling the same way she was?

"Cloud." She ceased her running.

"Yes?"

"When you told me you had lost your dream… What did you mean?"

She watched as his weirdly shiny green eyes looked down to the lifeless ground.

"She is not here anymore."

"She?"

He nodded.

"I don't remember much, but, before I woke up, just like you, I was a Chaos's soldier. She was with Cosmos. I saw her before, but she didn't remember me. So, something happened, I can't remember what, and I asked Cosmos to save her. When I woke up I was with Cosmos and she was gone."

Terra held her hand to her chest. He probably was in so much pain, but not even once he showed it.

"And she was a part of your dream."

He simply nodded. It wasn't a question, anyways.

"Why do you ask?"

Terra hesitated. What should she answer? She didn't understand either.

"I feel like… something, no, someone is missing."

"Someone? Everybody is here!" Onion Knight exclaimed.

"I know… Someone from… before."

"Someone from your world?" Cloud asked.

She denied with a head turn.

"No. Someone from not so long before this… Maybe… from when I was with Chaos."

"I'm sorry I can't help you. But I can't remember much either." Cloud said. "The memories of my time with Chaos are quite foggy."

"I know. I don't remember anything at all! It was the Cloud of Darkness that told me I was once with Chaos, otherwise I would have never known."

"Is that even important?" Onion Knight complained. "We are together, we have our crystals, let's join the others and end this fight!"

But, differently from the Onion Knight, Cloud could see the emptiness on Terra's eyes. For her, that unknown person definitely meant a lot. She wanted to remember, and he couldn't blame her. He remembered his Tifa… He knew that, although she wasn't with him, she was safe back at their world.

"If there is something I can do to help you remember, just let me know."

She nodded.

"Thank you."

The trio kept walking in silence. Terra had too much in her mind, Cloud wasn't the talkative type, and Onion Knight just didn't want to start the conversation, since it looked like he was the only one there with a want to chat.

I don't understand this need to remember a person that is not even here! He wanted to say it out loud, but he was smart enough to figure it would only hurt Terra and make Cloud angry.

Suddenly, she stopped walking.

"I had been here before…" she whispered. "With… him."

Cloud didn't dare to say a thing, afraid it would prevent her from remembering. Onion was just too pissed off to say anything.

Her head started to spin in nauseating speed. That feeling… she was familiar with it. It was not the first time she suffered while a memory demanded to be remembered. As soon as she began to run from the Empire and Kefka, she fainted on a mine. And someone helped her. Locke! Yes, the name of the man that saved her that time was Locke! He was a beloved friend, and now she noticed how much she missed him and their other companions, but… they were not the one she missed the most. Who was him? Why couldn't she remember him?

"Ahhh" she held her head, the pain becoming nearly unbearable.

"Terra!" both Cloud and Onion Knight rushed to her, as she lost all her strength.

"Vaan." Was the last thing she said before fainting.

"I don't want to fight..." She sobbed.

"Oh, you crack me up! 'Don't want to fight…', she says!" Kefka said in his annoying voice. "Who are you and what did you do to the girl who was having such a blast beating a pulp out of people?"

"I didn't… I don't…"

"Listen, you're a vicious beast. With vicious power, meant for mayhem and destruction! Now tell me, how a person like that is going to decide she 'doesn't want to fight'?"

Her sapphire eyes were filled up with sadness.

"You better straighten up, missy." He kept going. "Or I'll hafta teach you a lesson!"

"Please, don't." she begged.

"Alright… so much for Mr. Nice Kefka. Sorry, babe, I only hurt you because you make me!"

The lighting stroke her, and she couldn't help but scream. Why, why had to be like this?

"Hey, leave her alone!" that voice… didn't belong to anyone she knew.

"Who? What? When-where-why? Can't you see when someone is busy? Run along and play now!"

"I'll say it again. Just in case you didn't hear me the first time: leave that girl alone."

"Right." Kefka nodded, full of hate. "In that case, play DEAD. You're about to learn why 'oppose' rhymes with 'dispose'!"

"Always happy to take out the trash!" the unknown boy said in a carefree voice.

The battle started, and she couldn't do anything to stop it, or assist that kind boy that was helping her. Why was he helping her, anyways? By the looks of it, he was a warrior of Cosmos.

She was shocked to see him defeating Kefka.

"And here I thought you were just another prepubescent pretty boy…" Kefka rumbled. "Incredible! That's the most fun I've had in minutes!"

The boy ran towards her and took her by the hand.

"Huh?"

"Hey, snap out of it!" she had been mesmerized by his style of fighting. "We gotta go!"

They started to run away from Kefka, that took a whole second to notice the unknown kid taking his puppet away.

"Hm?"

"We'll finish this next time! For now, I'm just gonna take the girl! Catch ya later!"

He took her hand again and kept running.

"Yeah, it's been a pleasure. …Wait, you're – WHAT!" they heard his far away scream.

They ran silently all the way they could.

"Phew. This should be far enough away they won't find us." He mumbled, breathing was hard after all that running. "Oh, hey! I'm Vaan. And you are…?"

She looked away from him, her eyes full of a feeling he couldn't really figure out.

"Okay…" he said, resting both his hands on the back of his head.

"You're…" she shyly begun. "One of Cosmos's warriors."

"Hm? Ah, yeah, I am."

"Then, please… kill me."

"Huh?" Vaan was shocked. How could she possibly be asking something like that?

"I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want to hurt people, or destroy things anymore. So, please!"

"Couldn't you just stop fighting, and not use your powers?" There was no way he was going to kill her. "I mean, that's gotta be better than the alternative."

"What do you mean? I'm… You're my enemy. Aren't you?"

"People are people, aren't they? It doesn't matter what 'side' you're on."

She was shocked by his words. How could he be so kind, so different?

"Back there, it uh… it looked like you were in trouble. So, I did what I thought it was right and got you out." Once again, he rested his hands on his head, a clear carefree gesture. "I mean, I knew you were on the other side, but… What difference does this make, ya know?"

How could he talk like that, so free of any inside troubles? They were not supposed to help each other. They were summoned there to fight each other, any other interaction would be pointless, futile.

"You… don't care?"

"Nah, not really. It doesn't change anything, does it? What does you being in trouble have to do with Chaos or Cosmos?"

"Well, I mean, we're both soldiers, and we were summoned here to fight."

"Okay. Sure, we were summoned here to fight. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna throw away what I believe in. I decided to help you because that was what I wanted to do. And I have no intention of hurting you. That's not me."

He could see she wasn't sure yet. But, could he really blame her? The girl had just gotten hurt by someone that was supposed to be her comrade!

"Listen… don't think about things so hard, okay? You don't wanna end up just doing whatever people tell you to, do you?"

He got no answer, but he knew she didn't.

He walked with her a little bit more before she stopped.

"You're different from me. You're strong."

Once again, he did his favourite hands positioning.

"You can make your own decisions. You already have. You don't want to fight."

"My own… decisions."

"This battle's gonna be over before you know it. And I can already tell you, Cosmos is gonna be the winner. Once Chaos is out of the picture, things oughta settle down a little bit. Then, we'll all be able to go home, right?"

She had no idea of what to say. Her mind wasn't as set as his. She didn't have the same perspectives.

"Go somewhere safe and hide out until all this is over. Somewhere where you won't have to fight."

"What?"

He got closer to her, smiling.

"I'll come and find you before we go to fight Chaos. Then, you can come back to see Cosmos with the rest of us."

"To see… Cosmos?" she could do it?

"Yeah. If you become one of her warriors, you should be able to come back to wherever you came from too."

Her eyes were wide with shock. All he was saying was so good! Could she really…?

"Anyway, I better get going. I've still have some fighting left to do. Find somewhere to lay low. I'll be back for you."

He turned her back to her and she felt her heart fill up with a feeling she never experienced before. She didn't want him to leave her. But, still, she didn't want him to do anything but what his heart told him to.

"Vaan…" she called.

"Yeah, what is it?"

His smile was so kind and so beautiful…

"Hm…" she hesitated for just a second. "My name's… Terra."

His smile got even brighter.

"Terra… Nice to meet you, Terra!" and with those last words, he left her.

Her mind spun a little bit more, and the scene changed.

She was alone where Vaan had left her. She knew he had things to do. She knew that, although he wanted to get back to her, it could never happen. Those thoughts were travelling her mind when she saw a mannequin. Seeing that forsaken creature, she made her decision. Vaan was fighting, helping her keeping her will, but she couldn't stay there, useless, as he did everything for her. So she decided to fight.

One after another, she went running and fighting mannequins along the way. Until she reached the Order's Sanctuary. She saw Cosmos and the warrior that always stood by her side, protecting her. But she had no power left in her, all her body hurt. She wanted to reach Cosmos, she wanted to ask about Vaan, wanted to see him again, but…

"Vaan?" the Onion Knight repeated the last word she said before fainting. That name triggered an immense annoyance within him.

"Do you know the person that carries this name?" Cloud asked.

"I think… I did. I don't know, everything is unclear."

"Vaan." She weakly said as she came back to conscious.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked.

Her eyes shone with tears.

"I remember now. What happened to them? Vaan, was with others. There were six of them. Six missing Cosmos's warriors! What happened to all of them?"

Cloud nodded. She was right. Tifa was one of them. He vaguely remembered her being with other five warriors of the harmony goddess.

"I don't know." He answered her. "The girl I told you about was one of them."

She was crying freely now. She desperately wanted to see him again. Not knowing anything was just… maddening.

Onion Knight watched everything, not wanting to participate. Now that they had mentioned it, he vaguely remembered that they were right, there were more people on the lines of Cosmos. Their faces could be seen in some of the mannequins that were left. And Vaan… why did he hate that name so much?

"Want to ask Cosmos?" Cloud suggested.

"Yes."

They started to rush towards the directions of the Sanctuary, but Onion stopped them.

"I'll go find Cecil and the others, okay?"

"You are sure you want to go alone?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine."

He nodded and let the boy go the other way.

"He'll be fine, right?" Terra asked just to be sure.

"Yes, he will."

They kept their rapid pace until they were able to see Cosmos. She was, as always, sitting in her throne, with a small creature at her side.

"Cloud, Terra, is good to see you are safe." The velvety voice of the goddess sounded like music.

"We came to ask you a question."

She nodded.

"I… We… Want to know about the other six warriors you had." Was Terra asking. "The ones that disappeared."

Cosmos stared right into the young mage's eyes.

"You remembered them?"

Terra nodded. She just couldn't stop crying.

"I… really wanted to know what happened to Vaan."

Cosmos smiled.

"In order to give you all a chance, they volunteered to do a very dangerous work. They went to the lands of discord to close the door that allowed the mannequins to get to this world. At the same time, hundreds of mannequins came to this Sanctuary, in order to attack me while I had little defence. I evoked an ancient power to purify it all. The six warriors went back to their homes, to their own realities."

Terra was happy to hear he was safe, but, she just couldn't cease her tears.

"What's wrong with you, my dear?" Cosmos was truly concerned.

Cloud sighed. She knew what was wrong with Terra. When that war was done, he would be able to return home and find Tifa. But Terra didn't live in the same world Vaan did. She was desperate because she was never going to see him again.

"I'm sorry." She said, trying to wipe her tears. "I'm glad to know he is safe now, but… but…"

Cosmos's eyes widened with surprise. Could that be really happening? In the middle of that hopeless war, in a place that all was left to do was fight, was she really seeing that kind of love?

"You fell in love with him… here?" she couldn't help but speak her conclusion out loud.

Terra hadn't put it into words yet, but…

"Yes."

It was really a miracle! That was clearly a sign that things were different. This cycle was completely different from the others. Could it be that the end was finally approaching?

"And what do you want to do now, Terra?"

What she wanted to do now? What could she possibly do? She was going to fight, to end that war, and after that, she would go home. Vaan was not a part of her story anymore.

"That's nothing left for me to do." She pressed her hands to her chest, trying to make her heart hurt less. "We can't meet again."

Cosmos closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, there was a beautiful smile on her face.

"Let me explain one thing to you. Once you leave this world and this war, you are all sent back to your own worlds, with no memory of what happened here."

Terra's heart was even more hurt after those words. So, he didn't remember her at all.

"But Terra, dear, he remembers you."

"What?"

Cosmos's smile was so radiant it was almost blinding.

"He's confused, but he strongly remembers your face. And his feelings for you also remained inside his heart."

Terra wanted to be happy, but, how could that be good news? They were never going to see each other again and he would forever suffer her absence, just like she would suffer his.

"Since the feelings you two have for each other are so strong, I'm allowed to do something I otherwise wouldn't."

Terra waited, a silent hope building inside her.

"I can send you to his world, where you will be able to find him and be with him."

"Really?" the tears finally stopped. "You can do this?"

Cosmos nodded.

"When the conflict is over, instead of going home, you can go there."

"Thank you! Thank you so much, Cosmos!"

Cosmos smiled.

"It's my pleasure to help you, Terra. Your story gave me the hope I didn't have in a thousand years."

Terra opened her eyes to a place she has never seen before. She couldn't understand a thing of what was happening all around her, she didn't even remember how she got there. Where were Locke and Edgar and… but she stopped listing her friends. There was something even more important than that. Where was Vaan?

She couldn't remember where she met him, but his image was burning her mind, and also her heart. She wanted to be with him.

She started to wander around, trying to figure out where she might be. Was that some kind of… deck? There were some huge ships around her. How they managed to float was a mystery to her. Perhaps… magic?

"Terra?" the voice was well known on her ears. "Is it really you?"

She turned around to see Vaan looking at her. Her eyes filled up with tears of joy.

"Vaan!" she rushed in his direction, to be welcomed by a tight hug.

"I'm so glad I found you! I was starting to worry I had made you up."

She laughed and hugged him back. All else was futile if she could have him.