Terra had never pretended to understand how the Master chose lessons for his two students. One day would be endless Keyblade drills, the next they would be practicing magic, the day after might be lessons in history or mathematics or the metaphysical philosophy of light and darkness. He and Aqua and the Master had just spent a day down at the river for a long lesson in naturalism that seemed to Terra to have mostly been spent splashing around in the cool water during a very hot summer day.
So Terra was not surprised when, at supper that evening the Master took a long look at both of his students and said, "I am changing the plans for tomorrow's lesson."
Aqua looked up from her food, startled. "Master…?"
Their Master gave no explanation for his change of mind, only said, "I will be teaching the both of you separately. Aqua, your lesson will be in the morning. Terra, you will have the morning free, although I would advise you to work on your Keyblade forms."
Terra nodded, though he was grinning. "Yes Master." He could already taste the prospect of a morning to sleep in. He'd never used to mind getting up so early for his lessons, but lately his mornings had been miserable, his body refusing to wake up.
"Aqua, once you are finished with your lesson you will have the rest of your day free while I instruct Terra."
Aqua nodded, smiling serenely. She was the Master's favorite for a reason, because she always listened so attentively to his teachings. "Yes Master."
"Very good," Master Eraqus said with a final nod. "Eat up you two, you've had a long day."
Terra dug into his food - a simple rice porridge with spiced meats and a salad of leafy greens from the castle garden - with gusto. Eraqus said that Terra had started to eat twice as much as Aqua and he did. That was probably true, Terra thought as he reached for seconds on the rice. Food just all of a sudden seemed tastier than it once had, and he was hardly ever full. Fortunately the Master never admonished Terra's sudden appetite - only seemed to find it amusing.
Terra had noticed a lot of amused glances from the Master lately. Like earlier that day when they'd stopped for lunch on the riverbanks and Aqua went into the river to practice her magic while Terra unpacked their picnic lunch. Terra had looked up and been fascinated by his fellow student's exposed shoulder blades. The sun-reddened color and the way they moved when she did, all power and grace, and he'd wanted to write sickening poetry about water nymphs or something.
He'd blinked and suddenly she was just Aqua again, just his fellow student, scrawny and knob-kneed and showing off in the water. But the Master had given Terra one of his enigmatically amused glances.
Dinner was over too soon. Terra could have easily eaten another helping although, for the moment at least, he was no longer hungry. It was the Master's day to cook which left Terra and Aqua to do the cleaning. After bidding the Eraqus goodnight the two students collected all of the bowls and silverware and toted them into the kitchen where Aqua began to wash and Terra dried and put everything away.
Aqua was Terra's best friend, although she was his only friend so he wasn't sure if that should count. They'd lived in the Land of Departure for several years now, training under Master Eraqus. Neither one of them had parents- not that they could remember anyways. They fought sometimes and got along most of the time, although Aqua had gotten taller than Terra and he didn't like that. She was sort of like a sister except not like a sister at all, and she was pretty damn tough when she put her mind to it though Terra would never tell her that, and they did everything from training to chores to exploring together.
"What do you think the Master's going to teach us tomorrow?" Aqua asked, handing over the rice pot for Terra's drying cloth.
Terra shrugged. He very rarely had any idea what the Master was up to. "Don't know."
Aqua raised her eyebrows at Terra. "Aren't you at least a little bit curious?"
Terra was curious, but the truth was he had less than no idea of what to expect out of the Master's lessons. "Sure I am," he said, considering what their Master might have in store for them. "It's probably some magic thing if he's teaching us separately…"
Aqua was by far the more talented student at magic, though Terra hated to admit it. She was pretty smart and always managed to get the spells before Terra did, and she could come up with combinations of spells Terra never would have thought of.
"Hmmm," Aqua said, sounding unconvinced. She tied off the bag with the trash and hauled it out of the bin. When it came free Aqua nearly staggered back under the weight of it. The bag buckled and swayed with the weight inside. "Help me with this?" Aqua asked.
Terra took hold of one side of the bag and together he and Aqua carried it out the doors and into the night air. The path was a familiar one, the nightly round of chores something Terra had grown accustomed to over the years, but the air was sweet with summer and the moon was bright. They reached at last the fenced off area where the trash went, where some magic the Master had set up would take care of it,, and on the count of three hauled the bag over the wall. It hit with a satisfying thump.
Aqua leaned against the wicker wall and dusted her hands off. Terra tried to pretend he wasn't breathing so hard as he actually was.
"Say, Terra?" Aqua asked.
"Hm? What?" Terra said, straightening like he'd been caught at something and then flushing for his overreaction.
"You want to become a Keyblade Master, right?"
"Of course!" Terra said, wondering where such a silly question was coming from. "More than anything in the whole world!"
Aqua giggled. Terra thought for an instant that she was laughing at him and recoiled from the thought. Why it should hurt so much if she in particular laughed at him- well he had no idea.
"What's wrong with that?" Terra pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Nothing," Aqua said. "I just want it so much- to be a Keyblade Master, to see all the different worlds out there. I can't wait."
She looked up at the night sky blanketed heavy with stars, the shine of summer moonlight reflected silver in her eyes. Terra felt something very like what he'd felt earlier at the river, unable to look away from Aqua's face. She looked- well, he had no word other than pretty, standing in the starlight and looking a thousand worlds away like some distant goddess and inside Terra something deeply profound occurred that he had no words to understand. He felt hot and alive all over.
Aqua looked away from the brilliant stars and directly at Terra, her gaze direct and pinning him to the spot. "Why do you want to be a Keyblade Master?" she asked.
"Well-I-" Terra fumbled, hitting each of the words in his way like he was a stick adrift in a rocky river. "To protect the worlds. I want to get stronger so I can- you understand."
Again Aqua giggled. This time Terra looked down at the ground, shame flooding him. How had the words come out so wrong, in front of- well, in front of her? He might as well sink into the ground and never come back up again.
"I know what you mean," Aqua said. There was no trace of mockery in her voice, and Terra peeked up at her. Aqua was smiling at him and when he looked she outstretched her hand. The shame evaporated in the light of her smile. "Terra, let's become Keyblade Masters and go protect the worlds together!"
Terra held out his hand. His fingers touched Aqua's, and a jolt of electric energy flew from her palm to his. "Yeah," he said.
"It's a promise," Aqua said, and shook Terra's hand.
They stood in the middle of that night, the wind gambolling warm around them and the stars waiting overhead for the two of them to someday visit. Slowly the sense of anticipation ended. Aqua shivered, her hand quaking in Terra's and reminding him that he was still holding it. Terra dropped her hand and wiped suddenly hot palms on his pants.
"We should get back," Aqua said, suddenly not meeting Terra's eyes. That was okay- he couldn't manage the feat either.
"Yeah," Terra said. "You have an early lesson tomorrow."
"You're right." Aqua started down the path back towards the looming castle. Terra followed, trotting briskly to catch up with his friend.
"You'll tell me what the lesson was, right?" Terra asked, keeping pace with Aqua.
"If the Master allows it," Aqua said. "You know he likes his secrets."
"Right. She who never dreams of bending the rules, even to help out her fellow apprentice."
Aqua crossed her arms imperiously across her chest. "I'm not going to let you bully me into helping you cheat, Terra."
Terra rolled his eyes extravagantly as if that thought had never crossed his mind- even if that had been exactly what he'd been meaning to do. Aqua giggled and Terra knew he was forgiven. Terra jogged forward to the castle doors and ostentatiously swept them open. He bowed when Aqua approached, sweeping his arm out like he'd read in the castle's storybooks.
"My lady."
Aqua raised an eyebrow at Terra and walked inside. "Why are you being so weird?"
Terra had no answer to that- no answer that didn't require explaining this very new too-tight too-full too-bright feeling that had taken up residence in his chest, and he absolutely wasn't going to do that- so he just closed the door behind the two of them and sulked. "I'm not being weird."
The rest of the walk up to their bedrooms was silent until, at the door to her room, Aqua smiled and said, "Goodnight Terra."
Terra's sulk evaporated almost immediately. "Goodnight," he said and waited until Aqua had closed her door before heading for his own room.
Terra might have stayed up wondering about the Master's mystery lesson, but the long day at the river had exhausted him. He only barely cleaned his teeth and got undressed for bed before he flopped on his mattress and fell deeply asleep.
Terra's dreams were a hazy blur of lips and bare shoulders and blue hair and other things that had him waking up covered in sweat and flushed bright red. Throwing his covers off helped, he found, as did basking in the cool night air and just breathing for a few minutes and eventually he drifted back to sleep.
The glare of the sun was what eventually woke him, though Terra tried mightily to toss and turn away from the light. He sighed upon realizing that he was good and awake already, and there was no point to laying around in bed no matter how much he was allowed to sleep in this morning.
Aqua's lesson must be well underway, for neither she nor the Master could be found anywhere and the door to the chamber where they took lessons was closed. The open ended hours were a great boon to a teenaged boy and Terra frittered away the hours skipping stones in the castle pond until he remembered Eraqus' admonishment to work on his keyblade forms and made for the soft dirt rings and playground of equipment that made up the training yards.
The sun, already in the sky, climbed higher with not a cloud to be seen in the sky. The day, already warm with summer, grew punishingly hot. Terra trained until sweat dripped down his nose and coated his front and back. He stripped off his soaked shirt and flung it aside and continued the drills.
He was swinging his practice keyblade through a set of attack forms, savoring the sound of the wood whipping through the air, when he heard Aqua calling out to him.
"Terra! Are you out here?"
Terra dropped his keyblade to his side, breathing heavily from the exertion, and was shaking the dust out of his discarded shirt when Aqua rounded the path to the training yard. He straightened up, smiling even though his throat was suddenly thick and crackling. "Hey, uh- hey Aqua."
She didn't answer, instead staring openly at Terra with a mixture of shock and fascination, her cheeks so pink they stood out against her blue hair. Terra shifted on his feet, his sun-heated skin prickling all over with the weight of her eyes. "Is there something wrong?- Oh! Oh sorry!"
Terra snatched at his shirt, his desperation to put it on only making the struggle to put it on harder. How many arm holes could one stupid shirt have anyways?
He surfaced from the tangle of fabric to find Aqua already giggling at him. He must seem quite funny to her, fighting with his t-shirt like it was some strangling python rather than something he put on every morning. Terra caught Aqua's eye and that was it, he started laughing too.
"The master sent me to find you," Aqua said, the giggles subsiding. "He says he's ready for your lesson."
Ah, the mystery lesson promised last night. "So what was the lesson? Master Eraqus wouldn't say."
"Oh, umm-" Aqua averted her gaze, that pink coloring creeping up her cheeks again.
"Did he say you can't help me? C'mon Aqua, compared to you I need all the help I can get."
"Just- go to the lesson Terra!" Aqua, who could no longer meet Terra's eyes, practically shoved him towards the castle. "You'll find out inside! Don't make me explain it."
Terra, cowed by Aqua's vehemence, bid her a swift goodbye and trotted inside the castle. Living with the notoriously close-lipped Eraqus for the better part of his childhood had inured Terra to the allure of secrets, but Aqua's reaction had his curiosity piqued. Possibilities swirled through his mind, none of them good.
He reached the door to Eraqus' study and knocked trepidatiously.
"Come in."
Master Eraqus was sitting at his desk with a small pile of books with names on the spines like Compendium of Human Anatomy and Growth and Changes of the Body. They'd had anatomy lessons before, mostly in conjunction with Keyblade training, and Terra didn't see why Aqua and Eraqus were being so weird about it.
"Aqua said you were ready to see me Master."
"Take a seat, Terra," Eraqus said, sliding the pile of books aside so that the desk was clear between him and his pupil. Terra sat, taking care to keep his posture straight and not lounge in the presence of the master. He steepled his hands and met Terra's eyes with a steady gaze. "Now that you're both older I think it is high time I discussed something serious with you so I want you to listen carefully."
Terra nodded, a mix of nervousness and pride bound up in whatever Eraqus was going to say next. Now that he was older- it must be a keyblade thing, some responsibility he and Aqua would take on now that they were-
"Terra, do you know what sex is?"
Oh. Oh. Oh stars.
"Master!" Terra cried, looking around the room like a trapped rabbit looking for an exit and finding none. He sank deeper into his chair. "Do you mean- Oh, gross!"
"It's not gross, it's a very natural thing," Eraqus said sternly. "I surmise by your reaction that you know the basics at least?"
No wonder Aqua had been so weird. Why did Eraqus have to bring this up now, when Terra would rather sink into a deep dark hole than ever ever discuss it with anyone, ever. "It's a thing people want to do when they want to- you know, kiss each other and stuff," he mumbled.
"A little incomplete, but accurate enough," Eraqus said. "I imagine you've come across this information in the castle library?"
Terra nodded, mortified.
"Very good," Eraqus said, reaching for the topmost book on the stack. "Then we shall start with basic anatomy and go from there."
The afternoon lesson was the longest and most excruciating of Terra's entire young life. He learned about male and female reproductive anatomy and transmitted infections and how to stay safe during sex with both women and men which dovetailed into a long lecture about consent and was all concluded with, "You're too young to be engaging in sexual activity yet but in case you must I've stocked the medical closet with prophylactics. They're on the top shelf."
Terra stumbled out of Eraqus' office, his head swimming with medical terms he'd never heard before and never wanted to hear again. He passed the medical closet on the way to his room and had to run past, so full of the most acute embarrassment at what was now sitting on the top shelf. Terra's only saving grace was that he did not run into Aqua on his way up to his room, because he was sure he would melt into a puddle of shame right there in the hallway and he could not bear her witnessing it.
He collapsed on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, still digesting the afternoon's lesson. Despite the subject matter Eraqus hadn't made it seem bad. He'd treated everything with a gravity that made the whole ordeal more like ripping off a bandage, unpleasant but necessary, in Terra's eyes.
Those library books that mentioned kissing and sex Terra had flipped through with a mixture of shame and fascination, disgust and enthrallment. Sex, weird and gross as it was, was paradoxically fascinating. His dream from last night came back with a strangely muddled clarity and Terra went hot all over.
Maybe sex- and kissing and all that- wouldn't be so bad someday. At least it wouldn't be with a girl he liked, a girl he thought was pretty and smart and friendly, kind of like Aqua. That odd, strangely tight feeling returned when Terra thought about kissing her, like a weight pressing directly on his chest.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Would it?
The bell for dinner rang and Terra jumped up out of bed, his sudden hunger overcoming everything else. He burst out into the hall only to run almost directly into Aqua. This, after just deciding that he wouldn't mind kissing her, was too much for Terra and he fought to urge to run back into his room and hide forever.
"Hey Terra," Aqua said, scuffing her shoe on the castle flooring idly and not meeting his eyes. "Did you have your lesson this afternoon?"
"I did. Did you also-?"
Aqua nodded quickly. "Yep. Master Eraqus talked to me about it this morning."
Terra bit at his lip, at a loss for words while a thousand things flew through his head. The one most important thing was that Aqua still considered him a friend. "Weird, huh?" he asked, forcing out a laugh.
"Yeah, really weird," Aqua said, but she smiled at him and it was as beautiful and captivating as any masterpiece, and Terra's eyes strayed to the places where she had changed so slowly that he hadn't noticed. She was curvier and her face was thinner and under her shirt she'd developed breasts which was the anatomical word.
Standing in that hallway Terra remembered his conviction alone in his room that he wouldn't mind kissing his friend, actually even wanted it, if she did. He bit his lip, the words about to fall off the ledge of his lips, when-
"Aqua, Terra! This dinner won't stay warm for much longer!"
Terra laughed at the sound of their master calling, and Aqua chuckled, and they smiled each other. Then Aqua held out her hand and Terra took it despite that powerful feeling in his chest and together they went down to dinner.