Aqua tucked Ventus into bed that night. "Good night Ventus," she said.

"Goodnight," he replied.

She began to walk out of the room.

"Wait," Ven called out.

"Hm?"

"I don't want to be alone."

"Do you want me to stay here with you?"

"No. I want Terra."

"Okay, I'll go get him." She walked out the door. Ven followed. Opening the door to Terra's room, she said, "Terra, he wants to stay here tonight."

Terra, who was snuggled under his bed covers, reading a comic book, suddenly flinched. He hid the book under his pillow and said, "Aqua, knock before you come in here."

"My bad. But it's not like you have anything to hide."

"What if I was changing?"

"Then I'd get a sneak peek of something good, huh?" She laughed.

"Anyway," Terra said, "Ventus can sleep in his own room."

Ven spoke up. "I don't want to be alone."

How could Terra say no to that? So Terra patted his bed. "Fine. Come on."

Ven's eyes regained a bit more sparkle as he cuddled beside Terra on the bed. Terra told him, "But only for tonight. We're not going to make this a habit."

"Okay Notus."

"I'm Terra," he reminded Ven. "Who's Notus?"

Ven winced. "Um…? Uhhh….? I don't… remember…" Ven closed his eyes and tried to focus. Terra said, "Never mind. Don't worry, don't worry."

Aqua said, "Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight," Terra replied. And she left. Terra waited for a second, before reaching under his pillow for his comic. He turned away from Ven and said, "Get some sleep, okay?"

Ven nodded. But he couldn't fall asleep, perhaps because he'd been sleeping for a few days straight. So Ven asked, "Terra, what are you doing?"

"Reading."

"Can you read to me?"

"Um, this isn't the kind of story that kids should be reading."

"Oh." He kept quiet for a moment. "Terra?"

"Yes?"

"I can't sleep."

"Close your eyes and pretend you're sleeping and you'll fall asleep."

"Okay." But five minutes later, Ven once again said, "I can't sleep."

Annoyed, Terra replied, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I don't know."

The softness of Ven's voice convinced Terra to stop being so rude. "How about we go for a walk? That might make you tired."

"Okay."

So Terra and Ven, both dressed in their pajamas, embarked on a late night adventure. They walked around the palace. They walked around the courtyard. They hiked to the summit. All the while, Ven quietly followed Terra. Once they reached the very top, Terra asked, "So, you feeling tired yet?"

Ven shook his head. Terra groaned. "You have too much energy."

"Sorry." The boy looked defeated as he said that.

"No, no, don't be sorry," Terra said. He sat on the ledge of the cliff. Ven sat too. They were quiet. So Terra said, "You whooped our asses earlier today. Both me and Aqua. At the same time…" With an awkward laugh, he added, "I feel embarrassed."

"You should be," Ven replied while he kicked his legs back and forth.

Rude. "Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

Ven lowered his eyes. "I don't remember. I don't remember anything."

"Oh. Never mind."

"No, it's a good thing." He turned to face Terra. "I feel like the things that I forgot were bad. I feel like all the bad stuff is gone, and I'm a new person."

Terra ruffled Ven's hair. "Okay. That's good."

"What about you, Terra?"

"Hmm? What about me? I'm just a normal guy who dreams of becoming a keyblade master. I've been studying under Master Eraqus for a little over a year now."

"Why do you want to become a master?"

"I guess I've always known that I was going to become a keyblade master. It was my dad's dream once. My dad was training under his master, but then he got my mom pregnant and decided to settle down and raise a family instead. Now he owns a construction company."

"Pregnant?"

"You know, he put a baby in her."

"How?"

"Um…" Terra didn't want to have the 'locks and keys' talk right now. "Magic."

"Magic?"

"Yup."

Ven was very confused. "So he put an actual, living baby inside of her?"

"Yup."

"How is that even possible?" asked the concerned, naïve little boy.

Terra decided to change the subject. "So anyway, Dad always told me stories of his life as a keyblade apprentice. He told me of how he wanted nothing more than the mark of mastery, until he met my mother." Terra chuckled.

Ven shook his head. "Many a man is lead astray by women."

Terra, thrown off by that statement, paused for a second to recollect his thoughts. "Um, well anyway, when I was a little kid, he carved a wooden keyblade for me, and we would go to the backyard and fight. He would always beat me. I went to visit him again a little while ago, and for the first time, I beat him. It was a really rewarding experience."

"It must have felt great to finally teach that old bully a lesson," Ven agreed.

"No. No, he wasn't a bully."

"But you said he would always beat you."

"In a sparring match. It wasn't abuse or anything. He never hurt me for real."

"Oh…" A wave of sadness seized Ven's face.

"Are you okay?" asked Terra.

"Hmm? Yeah…"

"Okay, well, what's your dream, Ventus?"

"Dream?" the boy pondered the question. "I don't have a dream. I don't have anything."

Terra patted Ven's shoulder, gently. "Then you can share mine. Let's become keyblade masters together." Under his breath, he added, "Since you're much better than me, I'll probably need to catch up to you."

Tears welled up in Ven's bright eyes. "O-okay." He started to cry.

"Huh? What now?"

"I've never felt like this before. I'm not scared."

Struck by those words, Terra embraced Ven in a hug. "You don't have to feel scared anymore. You're safe."

Ven clung to Terra, as Terra gently patted his back. Eventually, Ven closed his eyes and fell asleep. So Terra hoisted Ven onto his back, piggyback style, and carried him back to Ven's room. He tucked the boy into bed, but right as he was about to walk away, Ven mumbled in his sleep, "D-don't leave me…"

Terra groaned. "Fine."

So Terra slept in Ven's room that night.