Aqua knocked on Riku's door, prompting an angry yell from the boy, "I don't want to see either of you!"

"Riku, what happened?" Aqua asked as she walked in.

Riku stiffened, but sounded as cheeky as he always did, "Oh look. Now I'm gonna get that 'Master Aqua special' Sora keeps talking about."

Aqua only asked again, "What happened?"

Riku sighed, "I said some things and Sora took it all too seriously."

"Like what?"

"Called him an idiot." Riku muttered.

"In what context?" Aqua asked again, her voice getting a little more firm. She could tell Riku was dodging things.

Riku finally stopped beating around the bush and got to the heart of his issues, "It was supposed to be just me, wasn't it?"

Aqua fingered her sleeve, "...yes."

"It was supposed to be just me and I was going to be the star pupil and everything was going to be a dream come true, wasn't it?" Riku continued bitterly.

"I suppose." Aqua agreed again. She suddenly realized exactly where Riku was coming from, then sat down next to him, "A long, long time ago, when I was so young and new to being a Keyblade Master I occasionally forgot that I was one, there was a boy."

Riku barely reacted to Aqua's story, but he listened intently.

"The boy's name was Ventus. He trained alongside me and Terra..." Aqua wondered why she was telling Riku the story as she continued on, weaving the tale that led to where everyone was now. She told a story that Riku eventually realized was the stemming point of all her anger and grief, and told him why she and him were really not that different when they lashed out at others because of feelings they didn't want to acknowledge.

...

Meanwhile Terra was astounded by Sora yet again. The boy's room was filled with drawings of all sorts of little scenes and characters Terra had all but forgotten about until now. He picked a drawing of a black haired and grinning young man off the wall, "Zack..."

Sora- who until he heard Terra's voice had been curled up and crying -looked up and wiped at his eye, "You know him?"

Terra was consumed in nostalgia and completely forgot about what he was supposed to be doing as he sat down on Sora's bed, "Yeah, I..." He couldn't finish.

Sora chuckled a little, "He... He wants to be a hero, right?"

"Yeah." Terra laughed. He looked at the rest, lifting his hand and muttering the names of people and places under his breath. He suddenly realized how lonely it'd been as just him and Aqua. He picked off another drawing of a set of dueling men, "Here's Peter and Hook..." Another with a girl holding up a pink dress, "Cinderella..." A little regretful at the sight of a young woman caught in sleep and another fleeing through woods, "Aurora... Snow White..."

He leaned back, "How did you know all this?"

"I dunno, I just get dreams. They're my inspiration." Sora said, leaning back into his pillows and drying up his eyes, "They feel more like memories sometimes, like I'd already seen all this before."

"They might be." Terra said as he began putting all the drawings back, "These people... I knew them a few years back."

Sora looked at Terra, "You act like you haven't seen them in awhile."

Terra continued looking at the drawings, "Yeah... I never really went back out to the other worlds after..." He stopped. Sora didn't need to know the details of what had happened to them, "Aqua never wanted to go out and catch up on anyone, and I didn't really want to leave her side."

Sora nodded, as if understanding, and then peeled back a few drawings. He pulled off a small portrait of a smiling boy, "This... This was Ven, right?"

Terra held the drawing firm and gentle, as if it was going to disintegrate in his hands. He blinked off a tear and wiped it up, "Yeah..." It'd been so long since Terra had seen anything resembling Ventus as he was besides memory, but the drawing was a whole new sense of wistful hope.

Sora smiled, "You can keep that."

Terra carefully folded it into his pocket, then suddenly remembered what he needed to do, "Oh, uh, Sora... Why exactly were you crying?"

A pang of loss flickered across Sora's face before becoming a more restrained frown, "Me and Riku aren't friends anymore... I guess."

Terra leaned in, "Why is that?"

Sora leaned back and folded his arms, "Well, he... He got really mad and said some things that were really mean."

Terra sighed, "Yeah, he seems pretty disillusioned with how things are going."

"He called me an idiot and a last minute tag along and a doormat." Sora folded his arms and moped.

Terra thought it all over, then said, "Well, you are a last minute tag along, but I wouldn't say an idiot or a doormat."

Sora nodded, but curled in again, "You know, if Master Aqua wasn't so strong and in charge, I wouldn't put up with what she's doing to me."

Terra stroked his back, "Yeah, same here." He sighed and shook his head, "I keep telling her she shouldn't take it out on you but you're just such an easy target, ya know? She feels like you're the worlds laughing at her; laughing that she couldn't save anyone. I'd make a counter or two, but do it judiciously; don't go overboard."

Sora began crying again, "Does she hate me?" Terra had no response. Sora then looked up at Terra, "And she did save someone. She saved you."

Terra was silent, but then he stood and left the room, "Well, that's all I needed to know..."


And we get both sides of Riku and Sora, along with a little masterly bonding, woo~