The strange man next to her had long ago fallen silent. His hood remained up and she rested her arms on her knees, with her chin on her arms. She felt so alone down there. Even knowing everything had turned out okay, or so it seemed, she still missed Terra and Ven. Did they remember everything that had happened? Was Terra…

Aqua curled into herself a little more, letting the tears fall down her cheeks again. Sora had saved the worlds, not once, but twice. If she'd been able to thwart Xehanort's plans… maybe none of this would have happened.

She didn't know how much time had passed. It was an illusion for her after all. Or it seemed to be. She remembered sleeping a lot, recalled vague conversations with the boy called Sora after she was pulled back out of the darkness. She'd re-met Kairi and tried to make a decent impression on Riku again.

But her heart wasn't in it. Not yet.

So, she sat on the floor of the room she'd been using since she'd arrived in Radiant Garden. Aqua couldn't believe how different everything looked. It was like the heart and soul of the world had been ripped out and now they were trying to sew it back together with a short needle and a limited amount of red thread. Looking out across the vast valleys, Aqua couldn't tell what was blood and what was thread anymore. Curled up just like she'd been in the realm of darkness for so long, she held herself together and tried not to think of what she'd lost. She had to think of what she would regain, what she had to fight for.

She had to believe it would all turn out okay.

At one time she'd gone through life on blind faith. Why couldn't she do it now? Even the wayfinder in her hand wasn't helping much.

"Uh, hey, Aqua?"

Sora's voice cut through her thoughts. Aqua glanced upward, forcing a smile. "Hey, Sora."

"Someone's here and he wants to talk to you."

Aqua frowned and slowly pushed herself to her feet. Following Sora, she wondered who could want to see her. Who would know who she was now? Who… would remember back then?

The sight of the figure at the door answered her questions immediately. "King Mickey!" she cried, falling to one knee at the sight of him.

"You don't need to be so formal with me, Aqua," the king assured her. When she looked back up at him, the smile he wore was gentle. "I think I've found something interesting and I want you to come see for yourself."

Aqua frowned, resting her weight on one leg. "Something interesting?"

"It's about Terra."

Aqua's acceptance came soon after.

She remembered pieces of the mission past that point. But the thing that stood out the most to her wasn't the fights. It wasn't the heartless vs unversed discussions. It wasn't even the keyblade talk.

What stood out most to Aqua was turning the bend in the road, crossing the hill, and seeing Terra standing near doors to a castle that tugged at her. She pushed thoughts of the castle out of her mind, focusing on the person in front of her. She broke into a run, desperately needing to see if her eyes were betraying her.

"Terra!" she yelled.

The smile on his face belied what the dark hair had told her: This was Terra.

Aqua crashed into him, flinging her arms around him with enough momentum to send them both slamming into the ground. She didn't even care that tears were streaming down her cheeks from the impact, didn't care that it had hurt. All she cared about was the person supporting her, forcing her to sit up with him, holding her in his arms as she cried into his shoulder.

Nothing else mattered. She had her faith back.

Terra waited, patiently as he could manage after having done nothing but wait for years on end. The King - he'd finally met King Mickey - had told him that those who had returned to Radiant Garden and remembered it as it had been might not appreciate having someone who looked like the Xehanort they knew return so soon. It hurt, but Terra knew he was right.

So he waited.

"Terra!"

His knees nearly gave out when he heard her voice. He managed to stand long enough to turn around and, speechless after so long, offer her a smile.

He didn't have to worry about staying upright long after that. Aqua's embrace knocked them both to the ground - whether from enthusiasm or desperation, he couldn't tell. Moving almost on autopilot, he sat up, taking her with him - hard not to, since she was half on his lap - and holding her gently, as though he was afraid she'd disappear or he'd wake up from this like a dream - and maybe he was - as she cried into his shoulder.

This was backwards, he realized vaguely. Usually he was the one to react immediately, emotionally, sometimes violently to events, only to calm down later; usually Aqua was calm at the start, only letting her emotions overtake her when the crisis had passed. Now, she was crying in his arms, and he was thinking. It hadn't quite sunk in yet.

Before the emotional gravity of the situation could hit him, however, Aqua took it upon herself to do just that.

"Ow!" Terra was jerked back to his senses with the pain of a fist pounding against his chest. Aqua was clinging to his shoulder with one hand and beating his chest with the other, and it hurt. "Aqua, what the-"

"I worried about you!"

He paused, his protest caught dead in his throat at her words.

"For years, I was worried! I kept thinking about you and wondering if you were okay, if you even made it out, if you-" She stopped, shaking her head. "If you were even-" Lost for words, she raised her fist again.

He caught her wrist in his grip before she could strike him again. "Aqua," he said with as much force and calm as he could muster. "It's okay. I'm fine. You-" His voice lowered, losing some of the force he'd gathered to get her attention. "You don't have to worry anymore."

She paused at his words, then slowly looked up. "Terra?" Her voice was little more than a whisper.

For the first time in years, he saw her face. He saw her eyes and the deep-seated exhaustion lurking in them. For lack of a better word, Aqua looked tired.

It hit him then.

He wrapped his arms around her once again, holding her tightly to him and trying to stop his trembling. They'd both been through so much - too much for him to take in all at once like this. "Aqua," he managed, and his voice was a whisper.

He felt gentle hands on his back and knew she'd caught him in her embrace. She'd started calming down just as he lost it. They'd done it backwards this time, but they still balanced each other, just as they had for years.

He felt another piece of his life - of his heart - click into place. He still had a long way to go until he made good on his promise, but this - but she - was a start. That was all he needed.