Raising the earth, the water, and the wind

Rather than my usual stories, I decided to do something family like. How would it be for Eraqus if he had to raise all of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus? I think it would be incredibly difficult personally. This is not an AU and you will see why in a few minutes.

Terra is nine, Aqua is eight and Ventus is four in this story. Eraqus is in his late 30s. Yawn… I actually think that Eraqus is Terra's father, just my opinion and what Terra said near the end of the game that I took seriously.

This is a rather long one-shot… (Or at least by my standards it is…) And if there was an 'adorable' category I would've put it for this story.

The good news is I have almost all the plot bunnies out of my head now and can focus more on Time Management! (That's my long crossover for anyone who doesn't know. You can check it out if you're interested.)

I'm thinking of making a sequel to this story with them older…

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Master Eraqus sighed, rubbing his temples. The entire training hall was frozen solid from one of Terra's attempts to cast a spell. Terra was ineptly attempting to slide across the ice, "Sorry, Master!"

He crashed hard into a wall, rubbing his fore head in pain, "Ow…"

Aqua ran from Master Eraqus's side and down onto the ice, gracefully skating across it in her tiny metal boots and pulling Terra up off of the slippery ground and trying to pull him up. Terra stumbled again and the two of them fell on top of one another.

Ven ran out onto the ice, "Wee! Terra this is so fun!"

He slid and hit his head and started crying. Master Eraqus sighed and snapped his fingers, melting the ice that encased the training room and running up to Ventus, "Are you alright?"

Ven looked up, wiped away his tears and smiled again, "Aw… I could've kept playing on the ice!"

Eraqus sighed and started tending to Ven's bloody nose as Terra and Aqua quickly made their way back over to Eraqus. Terra said, "Sorry, Master, so sorry! I didn't mean to freeze the entire hall, really I didn't! I was just trying to learn a spell."

Eraqus sighed again, fixing up Ven's nose before moving on to the scrapes Terra had on his arms and the large bump on his fore head, "It's fine, Terra."

But really, it wasn't. Terra needed to learn how to do magic better otherwise he might never be proven a master. Besides, the council was already starting to question Eraqus's teaching skills. He shook off the feeling and returned to casting healing spells on his students, "Alright… That's enough for today."

"But Master," Aqua complained lightly, "The sun only set two hours ago! We should keep training."

Eraqus rubbed Aqua's head, much to her delight, "Sleep is just as important to keep your body healthy and strong as training is."

Aqua nodded happily and Eraqus started to lead his three students to the kitchen, but they started to run, racing one another on the way there. Ventus somehow managed to get there first, and when Master Eraqus entered he saw the three of them laughing their heads off, out of breath. Terra slowly tapped Aqua on the shoulder to ask her a question only to have her pull back and shout, "Ew! Boy cooties! Gross!"

Terra and Ven chased Aqua around the kitchen as Master Eraqus prepared dinner, knowing that these were just childish antics and that these children needed to play to expend energy they didn't let out when they were training. After all, even though they were protégés, they deserved to be children as well.

He slowly prepared a nice bowl of pasta for the three of them, putting it together with some marinara sauce he bought the last time he traveled to a different world. That day had actually brought worse destruction than the current day, as Terra had nearly burned down the castle. Aqua managed to stop the flames from spreading any further than the training hall, but the damage was still there when Eraqus returned home.

He gently placed the bowl down on the table and that was enough to make the three exhausted kids run to the table to get food. They all collapsed into their chairs tiredly and were incredibly happy to be getting their food. Aqua ate very properly, making sure to keep herself clean, while Ven was being a bit of a slob and snarfing down his food. Terra didn't touch his food and that made Master Eraqus nervous.

He waited an hour after dinner before checking on Terra. Terra was sitting in the hallway outside of his room, feeding his pasta to a little blue-gray kitten with bright blue eyes. It mewled and Terra whispered, "No, kitty, quiet… I'm sorry I couldn't get you any milk, I couldn't find anymore," he ran a hand through the cats fur while continuing to give it small chunks of food with the other, "If Master finds you I won't be allowed to keep you."

Eraqus entered the hallway and gave Terra a stern look, "Terra… Give me the cat."

Terra hugged the kitten close to his chest, "But daddy… She's my kitty. I found her in the cold and the rain. She was sad and hungry so I took her in."

Master Eraqus sighed, kneeling next to Terra and giving the little blue-gray kitten a pat on the head, "Listen, Terra… This is an animal. If you want to raise this cat-"

"I named her Aqua," Terra said lightly, holding the kitten closer to himself and stroking her fur, "Don't tell Aqua though."

Master Eraqus sighed and gave Terra a pat like he'd given to Aqua the kitten, "You must be responsible with her. Take care of her and care about her."

Terra smiled, "I promise," he put the cat down and it ran into his room on instinct, "I'll always take care of my Aqua."

Aqua, of course decided that was the perfect moment to walk in and hear Terra say that last sentence. She ran up and hugged him, "Aw! Terra, you're the sweetest friends ever!"

Terra's face turned bright red in embarrassment, "I-I"

Aqua pulled him out of the room, "C'mon, Terra! I heard the stars are going to be really pretty tonight!"

Terra succumbed to the bluenette's will and allowed himself to be dragged out of the room. Master Eraqus shook his head, "Lucky child," and turned around to see Ventus was standing behind him.

Ven looked sad and scared and was hugging his small teddy bear close, staring up at Master Eraqus with big upset blue eyes, "Master… There's a creepy bald man downstairs. Make him go away."

Eraqus sighed and gave Ventus a pat, "Come on, now. It's just Master Xehanort, and he's nothing to be afraid of."

But while the two of them were making their way down the stairs, Aqua's scream hit the air. Master Eraqus ran down the stairs, practically dragging Ven the rest of the way.

He entered the room quickly and was shocked at what he saw. Terra was standing over Aqua protectively, his wooden keyblade drawn. Aqua was sitting on her knees behind him, tearing up and holding her cheek which had a bright red hand mark on it, like she'd been slapped incredibly hard. Master Xehanort was standing near them, looking down upon Terra's anger with disdain, "Stand aside, young man. This girl needs to learn that there is punishment for those who strike a master."

Terra growled and made sure that his friend was safely behind him. Master Eraqus entered the room with his arms crossed and Ven attached himself to Eraqus's left leg, shivering in fear of Xehanort. Maser Eraqus said simply, "Xehanort, what are you doing here? And what have you done to my students?"

Xehanort frowned, "Eraqus, I do not think you have been showing these children the proper discipline. The girl bit my hand when I came here, so I showed her the proper discipline."

Aqua whimpered slightly, rubbing her cheek where a bruise was starting to form. Eraqus slowly walked over to Terra and Aqua, Ven still hugging his leg, "Are you two alright?"

Aqua just kept crying and Terra kept glaring at Master Xehanort, "He said he was going to take her away. He tried to so she bit him. Then he hit her…"

Terra turned for a moment, gave Aqua a quick hug, and then turned back to Master Xehanort angrily. Ven popped off of Master Eraqus's leg and hugged Aqua, "Big sister, are you okay?"

Aqua shook her head softly. Master Eraqus had a more important question to ask though, "Why would you try to take Aqua away from here?"

Master Xehanort frowned sadly, but his eyes were still smiling, "You see, Eraqus, the council of Masters does not think you are capable of raising three young children. I am here to retrieve one of your students and train them myself," he handed Eraqus a document, "as were my orders. I am terribly sorry for your loss, but it would seem that you are incapable of even graduating your oldest student to full time keyblade use."

Master Eraqus opened the letter, but continued to talk while reading it, "Terra only uses his wooden keyblade when he wishes to protect his friends from any harm he could cause them," Master Eraqus read the last few lines, "This is ridiculous! Signed by the entire council!"

Terra looked down on the paper and his keyblade clattered to the ground, his eyes widening, "Master, you can't let this happen!"

Master Eraqus sighed, "I'm afraid I have no choice… I'm sorry, I can't go against the will of the council," Ven grabbed onto Terra's leg this time and Terra helped Aqua up, hugging her protectively.

Master Xehanort actually smiled here, thinking to himself out loud, "Let's see… I'm allowed to take any one of you… Well, I can't take Terra, he's Master Eraqus's son, that would just be evil," his eyes paused on Aqua, who shivered from his glare, "I say, you, girl. You could use some training in discipline," he pried her out of her friends' hug, "Besides. I think it would be rather fun to have a girl around."

Aqua cried harder than she already had been and little Ven ran out, "No… Don't take my big sister away… Take me, pwease, don't take Miss Aqua."

Master Xehanort looked down at Ven and said, "You'd be willing to sacrifice yourself for a friend? That's very brave of you."

Ven trembled slightly, "Terra said bravery is important…"

Terra slowly walked up to the his friends, still shocked that this was happening, "Ven… please…"

Ven shook his head, giving Terra his teddy bear, "I'll be back, okay, big brother?"

Aqua kept rising and Terra couldn't help the tears rising in his eyes. The three friends had one last long hug before Xehanort stopped them by clearing his throat loudly. Ven slowly pulled back, smiling, though Terra and Aqua were sobbing their eyes out. Master Eraqus felt guilty and incredibly upset that he was practically losing one of his children.

Master Xehanort took Ven's hand and led him out of the castle, "Come along boy, I need to show you to your new home."

"Wait," Master Eraqus stopped him.

"Yes?"

"You treat that boy right, you hear me? He deserves to be treated like a normal child," Eraqus said softly, kneeling down to hug Terra and Aqua, "If I hear that any harm has been done to him I will consult the council and get him back."

Master Xehanort smiled his usual freaky smile, "Why of course."

He left out the door, taking the little blonde boy with him. Aqua sobbed out her fears into Eraqus's shoulder, crying about Ven and how he was practically her little brother and how she wanted him to be back. Terra just gave Eraqus a long angry look that purely said, how could you do this? How could you let him take Ven away?

Eraqus sighed and pulled his remaining pupils close until Aqua stopped crying. Then he dismissed them for the night. Aqua kept clinging on to Terra's arm, crying about Ven and he kept hugging her and telling her it was going to be okay on the way up.

As soon as they were gone, Eraqus felt several crystal tears make tracks down his face. Why would the council do this? Ventus… No all of them, they are all practically my children. And I was always kind to them like a father. I always trained them well. I can't believe this…

I won't lose the others. I'll never lose another child again.

Eraqus decided to go speak to Terra and Aqua about their lost friend. He opened Aqua's door to find she was fast asleep, hugging Ven's teddy bear. He slowly slid her door shut, not wanting to bother her after the terrible day she'd had.

He then moved on to Terra. Terra was in his room, on his bed, crying and stroking his kitten, "Hello, Terra."

Terra looked up, acknowledging his master's presence before returning and stroking his cat, not replying to his initial statement. Eraqus sat on the bed, "Listen, Terra, if I knew this was going to happen I would have fought to stop it," he paused again but still got no reply, "I never wanted this to happen to any of you. I can try to get him back, but they will not let me take him."

Terra finally replied, "I wanted to kill Master Xehanort…"

"Why would you want to do that," Eraqus asked his son.

Terra sighed, "He hit Aqua… And then he took Ven away. Wouldn't you want to hurt him too?"

"It's not Xehanort's fault that he was the one who was chosen to train Ventus. It's my own fault. I let this happen…" Master Eraqus replied, sighing.

Terra settled down in his bed more, looking up sadly, "No. It's not your fault, master. You're an amazing teacher," Eraqus smiled, "And you're an awesome dad too."

Eraqus gave Terra a little pat on his head before tucking him in and whispering, "Good night Terra."

"Good night, daddy."

Master Eraqus made an attempt to smile at Terra before flicking off the lights in his room and leaving to go to bed.

The End

Thanks so much for reading.

I was thinking of writing a sequel about the three of them when they're older. (I mean all three of them when they're training) Leave a review if you'd like that, but just don't flame.