I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix/Disney.


Just an Ordinary Day

Ven threw his hands up in the air as he faced down a furious Terra. "How is this my fault?"

"Because this kind of stuff is always your fault!" Terra shouted. He drew himself up to the tallest height that his seven-year old body could manage (which meant that he only came up to Ven's midsection), and jabbed Ven in his chest with a finger. "If you hadn't been so close to the edge, I wouldn't have felt the need to try and pull you back!"

"Yeah, but it's not like I fell in," Ven said.

"You were going to! And even ignoring that, you didn't have to move out of the way at the last possible second."

"You're the one who pushed Aqua in!"

"Yes, because I was trying to grab you!"

"Guys, stop it!" Aqua put a hand on either boy's chest, trying to push them apart. Unfortunately, being as young and tiny as she was, it did absolutely nothing.

Ven and Terra continued to bicker and at his desk, Eraqus felt the beginning of a headache. He rubbed his forehead, taking a deep breath to calm himself, and wiped the stunned look off his face. "That's enough," he said firmly. When Ven and Terra continued to fight, he raised his voice and said, "Enough!"

Ven and Terra stopped abruptly, staring at their Master with wide eyes. Aqua was still leaning her weight into them, trying to keep them apart, and when the two boys swiftly turned to face Eraqus, her hands slipped and she fell forwards onto the ground.

"It does not matter whose fault this is," Eraqus said ("Does too," Terra muttered). "Just tell me how to fix it."

Ven and Terra glanced at each other as Aqua picked herself off the ground.

"You don't know," Eraqus said, half to himself. "Did you even try to find a solution?"

Ven was blushing as he stared at a spot just beyond Eraqus' right shoulder. Terra cleared his throat, his stare glassy and vacant as he pretended he wasn't there. So, Aqua took it upon herself to say, "No, not really. We panicked and came back here."

Eraqus grunted, and Aqua stared at the ground, hearing his disapproval in that sound.

Terra huffed. "Whatever. This stuff will probably wear off anyways. Just postpone missions for a couple of days and then everything will be fine."

Eraqus nodded, seeing the sense in that, but Ven said, "Terra, are you sure? I mean you guys are . . ."

"And?" Terra demanded. "So what? That doesn't mean anything's different." He clapped his hands together. "Just watch: everything's going to be perfectly normal."


Ven watched, eyes wide with alarm, as Terra balanced haphazardly on the stool. The (formerly) eldest apprentice was busy gathering ingredients from the cabinets and with each item he reached for, he seemed to dance a little closer to the edge. Ven lunged forwards as the stool wobbled, not that Terra seemed to notice. He continued to do exactly what he was doing before, which was – as Aqua would put it – needlessly trying to cause himself harm.

"Are you sure you don't want my help with this?" Ven asked. "I mean you're . . ."

"Don't say it! Don't you dare!"

"But Terra," he said, "it's kind of hard to deny. I mean it's looking me right in the face."

"Ven, I'm warning you, don't you dare . . ."

And despite Terra's words, Ven did it anyways. "Terra, you're short," he said curtly.

"Gah!" Terra spun around quickly, nearly slapping Ven in the face. "I told you not to say that!"

"Well, at least you're taller than Aqua. I knew never she could be that tiny." Ven thought about that for a second, tapping his chin. "Well, she's not that small . . . maybe frail's the right word?"

"Look, Ven." Since he was on the stool, Terra was currently taller than Ven – which made it a tiny bit easier to take him seriously. "This doesn't change anything, so don't start getting ideas. Me and Aqua are still the same people; we're still older than you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Ven threw himself into a perky salute. "But it doesn't change the fact that you're pretty small . . ."

"Fine! You get the ingredients."

Ven did so, pushing Terra and his prized stool aside as he reached for the shelves. With Terra shouting instructions behind him, he located each ingredient quickly, passing them off to the boy behind him. For a while, it worked seamlessly, only a tad slower than if Terra had just fetched them himself.

Until they reached the rice.

They kept the rice in a big sack on the counter, and lifting it had always given Ven a bit of trouble. Not only was it fairly heavy, but the fluidity of the grains meant that the sack liked to mould around the arms of whomever was holding it, and just be a general bother to carry. Only for Ven, of course. As far as he knew, Aqua never had any problems with it, and Terra certainly made it clear to that he didn't either.

At least normal, adult Terra didn't have a problem.

Just as he had with the rest of the ingredients, Ven more tossed than passed the sack of rice behind him, and he blinked when there was a thump.

"Veeeen!" That was Terra's voice, albeit very muffled and distorted.

"Terra, what . . .?"

Ven turned to see a giant sack of rice, and no Terra. No wait, Terra was there, but underneath the rice. The sack had settled upon his body so that all Ven could see was the other boy's flailing arms and legs. With a shout of alarm, Ven hauled the sac off of Terra, who swiftly rolled onto his stomach, panting as he propped himself up with his forearms.

"Aw, crap," Ven mumbled. "Terra, are you okay?"

A shudder ran down his spine as Terra glared at him. "You did that on purpose," the technically older boy growled.

"What? No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did." Terra rose to his feet. "And now you're going to pay!"

As Terra charged, Ven cringed, holding his arms up to protect his face. Terra slammed into his waist, shoving him back, but only a little. After a few stumbled steps, Ven regained his footing and was able to keep his position rather easily as Terra continued to try and push him.

"How . . . ?" Terra backed off, staring at Ven with something akin to horror. "This can't be . . ."

Before Ven could get a word in, Terra punched the wall.

"Terra, what are you doing?!"

"There's no hole," Terra said in a haunted voice. "That punch should have left a hole in the wall."

Almost unconsciously, Terra walked backwards, staring at his hands. "I don't just look like a seven year-old, I have the strength of one, too!"

"I guess that makes sense," Ven said, "I mean you don't have all the muscles that you did before."

Terra looked up at him. "So, are you saying that . . . that I'm weak?"

Ven nodded. "Looks like it."

Terra's anguished scream echoed throughout the castle.


Oh Terra, how silly of you to think it would wear off that easily.

So, here's a clarification of what the Fountain of Youth did to them. In contrast to what Terra believes, he and Aqua have regressed mentally. However, they (currently) still have their memories of being adults, which is what led Terra to think that he and Aqua are adults trapped inside a child's body. But don't worry: eventually these memories won't mean much and we'll be dealing with Child!Terra and Child!Aqua.

Basically, this will be divided into three major sections:

a) Everyone trying to go about their lives as usual and failing

b) Eraqus and Ven dealing with a completely regressed Aqua and Terra

c) Vanitas being thrown into the mix (Sorry guys, he won't be making an appearance for a while. Remember to vote on his role if you haven't already)

Next Chapter: Ven discovers that while a scolding from Aqua usually mortifies him, having a little Aqua lecture him is actually pretty cute