The peaks of these spiraling towers were really just a collection of modern houses piled on top of each other; the dead surely liked to bring some part of home into the afterlife. But on a night like that one, each house was decorated with electric lights of different colors along the walls, spotlights placed in between to really illuminate the livelihood of the Land of the Dead. They were all so bright that the night sky was painted a light blue.
Terra and Aqua rode a cable car that was suspended in the air, though not high enough to reach the summits of these skyscrapers. It sped through the sights quickly enough that everything was almost a rainbow blur. It didn't stop her from holding him by the elbow and excitedly pointing out almost everything. As gorgeous as this world was, it was much more interesting to study her eyes. But he had to do his part in keeping his integrity and get involved in whatever she was interested in.
Héctor and Miguel were sitting on their own. With a guitar in hand, they were ready for the musical competition. Eventually, the cable car landed onto the ground, where houses of stone and mud firmly stood. The streets on the lower ends of the city were graced with hundreds of candles and marigold flower petals.
Terra and Aqua walked through a sea of skeletons, slipping in between bony shoulders, just trying to get someplace where they can watch the show. Many of the dead enjoyed the leisure of conversation, laughter, and song. There was a lot of excitement for the upcoming performances, and mass crowds gathered in front of the wooden stage that stood in the middle of the square. Héctor and Miguel have already taken themselves backstage to prepare for the act.
Aqua slipped her hand into Terra's palm, clasping it. They've been holding hands since they were children, when they used to explore the mountain together so they wouldn't get separated. It certainly held a different meaning to him now, and he would be lying if his heart didn't skip a beat when she did so. Considering the massive crowd here, it probably meant she would be holding him for quite some time. Blessings sometimes came in the most unexpected ways.
Among the skeletons, often they spotted what he understood to be called alebrijes, or spirit guardians. Fantastical animals in a myriad of bright, neon colors and patterns. Monkeys with dog legs. Cats with wings. Chickens with lizard tails. The colors clashed and stood out from each other. Some of the patterns depicted images, such as sunrises, wing petals, and flames, and others resembled waves, spirals, and zig-zags. Every single person had one – it was meant to guide them on their path, both in life and in death. An elephant with mismatched patterns of blue, green, orange, and red passed by the two best friends.
"I wonder what ours look like," he heard Aqua say. He led the way, holding her hand from behind him as they made their way next to the stage, where less skeletons took space.
Even when there was more breathing room for them, Aqua didn't let go of him. He didn't object.
"Maybe ours would be a little different because we're Keyblade wielders," he said. He stood close to her, her hand warm, watching a bright yellow and purple porcupine make its way into the backstage area. "If we're guardians meant to protect light, maybe they shine a white glow."
Aqua smiled at this suggestion, probably imagining bright white animal guardians. She let go and faced him, her hair framing her face under her hood. Her hands were behind her, and she wore a devious grin. It was impossible to look away from how bright her eyes were against her face paint.
"Yours would be a tiger," she said.
"A tiger?"
"Yeah," she scattered her eyes and kept them at the ground, as if suddenly shy. "Quiet, fierce, patient… Elegant. Something you'd want to pet but you know it would be ferocious and powerful."
There were certain things she didn't say about the tiger that implied other attributes she was probably using to define him. It was a stunning creature to compare him to, majestic and yet downright scary at times. His cheeks flushed, but luckily he had his own face paint to hide such feelings.
She nearly hopped as she caught his gaze again. "Now you pick one for me," she said.
Her smile was tight and mischievous, rolling her cheeks out even more. He just couldn't resist – the easiest way to get on Aqua's bad side was to use anything ridiculously charming, like "cute" or "adorable," to describe her.
"A bunny," he said.
The most hilarious part was watching that grin fall slowly as she processed her disbelief. "Excuse me?"
He laughed. "Hey, they can be vicious if they need to be."
She placed her hands on her hips and gave him a contemptuous smile, her long sleeves hanging loosely from her fists. "Well, watch this vicious little bunny shove a Keyblade right through your sternum," she said, poking him right in the area she threatened.
She didn't join him when he laughed more. "I'm sorry, I'm messing with you. It's just so funny to see your face like that." He stopped himself from rubbing his eyes, so his paint wouldn't get messy. "If I was being serious, I'd pick a dolphin for you."
"A dolphin?" She interlaced her own fingers and held them up to her mouth, as if thinking hard about it.
"It's agile, and friendly, and kind, and supportive. The kind of spirit you know would have your back no matter what," he said. He hoped that an image of one gracefully jumping out of the ocean would pop in her mind, so he wouldn't have to say "beautiful" out loud.
She nodded slightly, her eyes far away. "I like that," she said. She started to walk toward a table of colorful sellable goods managed by a female skeleton in a flowing dress, under an arch of yellow lights. "Ven would be a bird."
"Not just any bird. A parrot."
She burst into laughter. "That's perfect."
On the table were several stuffed animals of alebrijes, each color and pattern stitched together. She pointed to one parrot in particular with a crown of feathers on its head, mostly in neon lime green with wavy lines of sky blue and bright purple.
"Just like that one," she said.
"A cockatoo?" Loud, hyper, sensitive, playful, and attached. "Even better."
There was no currency in the Land of the Dead, and the skeletal woman, who used to sell these when she was alive, simply gave Aqua the cockatoo doll. It was tradition that the two of them always selected a gift to take to Ventus from wherever they visited, and this was perfect for him.
An announcer wearing a ridiculously large blue wig and a bright pink dress, which really showed off her hips since that she had no organs around her waist, spoke through the microphone on stage, saying that the show was soon to start.
Terra held Aqua's elbow and gestured his head to suggest they climb up some of the buildings so they could get a better view. Up some stairs, a wooden ladder, and through a lounge area, they made their way onto a balcony, illuminated by neon pink lights, where they could see the stage. The crowd the gathered around it, and more sky scrapers of wonderful lights could be seen beyond the horizon. Initial performances performed the same exact song, being the most famous one in this world. Some put oomph into it, others kept it softer.
She nudged him in the ribs and asked him to dance, during a performance where this song was performed particularly slow and sweet.
"You know I have two left feet," was his answer.
She smacked her lips and put her left hand, which carried the doll, onto his bicep. He knew enough to reach out his own, allowing her to rest onto his palm. His right hand took its rightful place onto her waist, being sure not to wrap it behind her, or let it fall too low. He breathed through his nose to keep himself calm – pretending to ignore the nervousness and excitement that otherwise would try to make a fool out of him.
"I do agree that Ven is a better dancer than you are," she said, standing close enough to him that he could see her eyelashes and the reflection of lights from of her irises, her smile brimming and her lips looking soft behind the paint.
One of Aqua's favorite pastimes was to spend some hours dancing with Ventus. He particularly liked jumps and twirls, and they taught themselves dances from different worlds that met his athletic tastes. In return, he indulged her in partner dances, where they practiced waltzes and swing duets together. Terra recently (finally, in her opinion) learned to keep a rhythm.
He swayed to and fro, matching the beat of the orchestral instruments filling the stage at that moment, knowing it was his responsibility to lead her movements. It was a simple ritual, just going side-to-side, and he was certain she wasn't having fun at all. In fact, she looked nervous, tossing her eyes in different directions, so he made sure to keep his head upright and straight, an appropriate space of air in between them.
But she closed the gap, lowering her left hand underneath and around his arm, finally finding a place onto his upper back, the lime grime cockatoo in all its neon glory plopped onto his shoulder. He couldn't help but drift his own from her waist, onto the space between her shoulder blades. He was not hugging or squeezing her, but securing her place such an intimate position. She rested her face close to his neck, and closed her eyes as if to simply feel the music and his lead.
"This is nice, though" she said softly.
He didn't disagree with this at all, but somehow he couldn't will the power to say it. He swore that the lyrics he was listening to weren't from a love declaration, but from a song about good-byes. But he couldn't focus enough on the lyrics, or the melody, because his ears were ringing as hard as his heart was pounding. This world was magnificent and romantic. It was just the wonderful kind place to confess what he felt about her, but his voice was trapped in his throat.
She moved to look up at him, a confused look on her face. "What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper, through a laugh she tried to manage.
He had lost the rhythm of the music. But she stayed in her position, her forehead barely touching his chin. He probably didn't have to say anything. He could instead kiss her, and let it be known that way. It even seemed as though she was waiting for him to do it, stealing glances at him with a dreamy smile on her face. Or maybe she was getting sleepy. Or at least she was enjoying the moment, and he would be ruining it.
Of all the monsters and the close-calls he had during his training to become Keyblade Master – and despite that the Mark of Mastery exam was just a couple of months around the corner - she was the one person who scared him the most.
The announcer declared that Miguel was next.
It was like a reminder rang off that told them Keyblade business came first. Aqua let go and laughed nervously, spinning around to lean on the railing behind her. Terra did as well, squeezing the metal in between his fingers so that he wasn't visibly shaking. He supposed it wasn't the perfect place to say such things, right in the middle of the mission.
Miguel walked on stage with the white guitar strapped around him, and stood lifelessly behind the microphone. Another boy frozen in fear in the face of what he wanted the most. But Miguel actually had the strength to find his courage and yelped, strumming the guitar in a fury of pricks. Aqua hollered in support, and Terra joined with his hands cupping his mouth, letting out all of that nervous energy as it blended with all of the others who were whooping along with him.
Miguel was magnetic, tapping his foot to the rhythm of the love song he was singing. The crowd adored it. Aqua bounced, since she really couldn't help herself in the presence of any music. She gestured her finger to Terra, twirling it as if to say that she wanted to spin. He held one of her hands up high as she swayed and turned. Héctor joined Miguel, singing a song about how a crazy woman kept them just as equally mad.
Such a serendipitous message, considering how much she drove Terra insane. Fireworks crackled and painted the sky different colors when the song ended, her face flushed in a flurry of hues as she laughed, mesmerizing in such messy skeletal make-up.
The currents push and roll him around, and it's so dark that he can't see where they're taking him; he might as well be keeping his eyes closed. He bends to their will, holding his breath for so long until he can't any longer. Then he fights for a gasp at the surface, and allows the black water to swallow him back down, so as not to lose any more of his energy. The only thing he keeps checking is whether the duffel bag of elixirs is still secure on his shoulder.
At times he crashes against some rugged walls when the currents get aggressive enough. He counts his blessings as they slow to a crawl, and he can actually swim without resisting. Right ahead of him, a light turns on. Garnet is underwater, a bright and far-reaching glow pulsating out of the orb at the tip of her shortstaff, and she is swimming upward to catch a breath. But she's a poor swimmer, flailing her arms and not catching any speed.
Terra gracefully grabs her and helps her up. She coughs and gasps when they reach the surface, her voice deafened by the roaring of water traveling somewhere in the darkness behind them. But he sees a ledge of broken stone, and with her in one arm, struggles to get her ashore.
She collapses on her knees when she's free of the water. Terra whips the bag onto the ground, and gratefully rests on his arms, feeling the push and pull of the water dragging his legs around. It's actually relaxing in comparison to the pounding headache.
Two small hands grip his bicep, trying to get him up.
"Are you alright?" she asks, maintaining her grip despite there is no way she can possibly help him if the current rips him from her.
He lazily picks himself up onto the ground, noting how much his back is hurting. She immediately draws her hands around his right side with her healing magic. The pain and the headache melt away, leaving him to feel light and calm. The stone floor is cold on his hands, the air down here chilled.
Garnet immediately checks the bag as soon as she is finished with him. Two vials of elixirs have shattered, but it is still filled to the brim of bottles full of bright green liquid. She lets out a breathy laugh, which succumbs into a half-sob.
"I can't believe we've survived that," she says, holding her hand to her heart as if to calm herself. "Oh, thank you, Terra."
What isn't spoken is how Kefka has yet to be destroyed. He helped her survive for at least one more night, but he tells himself that he's stronger. That he can do better next time. That he will destroy the clown tomorrow.
He sits up straighter and chuckles, ruffling his hand through her black hair. "No more dangerous heroics, okay, Your Highness?"
She grins, and it suits her much better than the past hours of her counting the minutes to her death. Pushing away his hand, she says, "the nerve of you. It is an appropriate title for a princess, yes." She stands up and flicks her arms, water sputtering from the fabric of her bubble sleeves. "But I am a queen. You say, Your Majesty."
"Duly noted," he says with a grin of his own, swinging the duffel bag over his shoulder.
The area around him is narrow. The light from her scepter is enough to let him see that a passageway of worn-down stone lies ahead of him. An emptiness of water gushing from somewhere and twisting itself into a different direction leading into nowhere is behind him. The ceiling is a heavily arched in a display of intentional architectural design. The walls are built of stone, with dirt and moss seeping through the cracks of time.
"Where are we? Ye olde sewer?" he asks.
Garnet wrings her long hair into her hands to let water fall out, and picks up her shortstaff, holding it up like a torch aflame. It's much brighter than a flashlight, illuminating some paces around them.
"I believe this is the ancient cistern past residents of Traverse Town used to rely on before all of its renovations," she says, not brave enough to walk ahead of him. She reaches into her own bag hanging off the back of her pelvis, and pulls out a compass. "As long as we head west, we should eventually make it back to the second district."
For a cistern, it doesn't seem that all well built. He steps ahead of her, saying that they should hurry back to Rydia. The sounds of their footsteps echo as he leads her into a comfortable jog – fast enough so that it isn't a leisurely stroll, but slow enough just in case they run into trouble.
They reach a collapsed wall, with a large exposed crack to their left, and an open passageway ahead of them.
He peeks through, seeing a hall on the other side that heads straight west. "It's a shortcut," he says.
She's nervous, and of course she is, considering the risks. It's so dark that neither of them can really see what is on the other side. Terra slips through, albeit it's a very tight fit since the roughness of the broken stone squeezes his back and chest together, scratching him along the way. It's incredibly claustrophobic, and halfway through, he stops because he cannot go deeper. A passing thought creeps, if he will get stuck in between, pressed inside this darkness. But he shuffles his shoulder blades and gets through to the other side. If he can do it, then so can she.
When she's on the clear, her shortstaff reveals several junctions. Using her compass, they always take the western direction if possible, jogging through arched halls with no doors in sight. If not possible, they head south. Sometimes halls are dry, and other times they are flooded. When this happens, Terra will hold her tricep, making sure she doesn't slip underneath. Some halls have collapsed, their floors cascading into rushing underground rivers. He takes her hand and leads her carefully and slowly onto slanted stone that are still sturdy enough to support their weight.
Then of course, there are the Heartless that make occasional appearances. In incredibly narrow rooms, they have no choice but to fight. Terra relies on his Ends of the Earth while Garnet stands close behind him, quick to heal him even when he isn't injured, just to keep his energy going. In halls that open up, they decide to skip the battles.
It seems like an endless maze of junctions and long hallways, opening into large rooms of open water that then shrink into more passages. Until they approach a puddle that looks like it's spilling from underneath a wall.
But the wall is painted black, bubbling and swirling like a breathing fungal infection. It sweats water dripping down its side, flickering a hint of purple when shone by her light. The blackness stretches out as though it's some grand entrance to a castle, like it's bleeding into the stone, veins of blue bioluminescence inching outward.
"What is this?" she asks, sounding incredibly creeped out.
Terra's heart is racing, and he can barely register what he's looking at. He touches the wall, and his palm sinks into it.
"Don't touch it!" she exclaims, pulling his arm and immediately hovering her hand above his, healing the dark cloud rustling on his palm until it dissipates.
A bell rings somewhere, muffled through the stacks of dirt that sit above the ceiling.
"It's midnight," Garnet says. "We must be underneath the clock tower."
His heart nearly pounds itself out of his chest, and he holds back a sob. Is it true then, what he's looking at? "A Door to Darkness," he says in a daze.
"A what?" She leans forward to try to catch his eyes, holding her shortstaff up. She fails.
"This is an entrance into the Realm of Darkness, where the Heartless come from." His throat is dry and he swallows in an attempt to moisten it. It's finally happening. Aqua is just through this door.
Remembering who he is talking to, he continues robotically. "I think that when this world falls, it will start collapsing right here."
She doesn't lose a moment. "Then you must seal this entrance at once. It will stop more Heartless from pouring through, yes? Will it prevent the world from falling, as well?"
Terra winces, his breath shuddering. Garnet is absolutely the wrong person to find such a thing. She's probably expecting him to be the savior the entire town needs right now. To end their worst problems, so that they don't have to be worried about disappearing into an unspeakable nothingness. There isn't a right way to tell her what he's thinking, either.
"I…" he starts, licking his lips. "I can't. I have to go through this door first."
"I beg your pardon?" Her eyes go wide with horror, her mouth slightly left open.
"I have to find her." He surprises himself with how well he managed to say that through such a choke.
Garnet stares at the blackness, shaking her head in an attempt to process his words. "Aqua is in there?" she asks.
Terra realizes his teeth have been clenched too much, and relaxes them. "Yes," he says softly. "I need to save her."
The queen draws a slow breath, holding her chin high and keeping her voice stern. "I have every expectation that this will be sealed. I aim to have faith that you will be able to locate her and still serve your responsibilities and purpose as a Keyblade wielder." She reaches into the bag on his shoulder, and pulls out one elixir before stepping back. "Leave the bag here so we may acquire it later. I will not stop you."
With that Garnet walks away, her light slowly making its exit from where he is standing. His shadow grows and fades away with more distance in between them.
His breathing gets coarse and unsteady. It isn't fair that he has to choose. He already lost Hope, and now Garnet is walking by herself in the dark, with barely a reliable ability to defend herself. With her gone, then that means Rydia...
That's at least three lives lost in his hands, for the exchange of one.
Terra rests his forehead onto the wall, slamming his palm against it. If he could give up all of the eleven years he put into training, and his Keyblade itself – if he could have never found out what it even means, and throw away his dream of becoming a Keyblade Master, he would give it up.
He would trade all of it if it meant she is therefore free. But she will never forgive him if that was the choice he made. She is better than him in this way, strong enough to make the right decision, as the Keyblade Master she rightfully deserves to be.
He slaps the wall with his palm, tears running down his face. She's strong. She's strong. You're the strongest person I know, and I will come back for you. I promise. I will be right back.
He dashes after the queen, telling her to stop. "I said I would escort you and the elixirs back to the hotel. I'll finish what I started."
Garnet's expression is rather grave at first, in disbelief that he's still there. Then she nods, once. "Understood. Let us make haste."
They run down the halls. The compass isn't useful anymore, since they are now in the second district. Heading west will only lead them further way. All that's left is to find a passage back up. The hallway at first seems to stretch too long until it breaks into a junction of four. Garnet stays silent, unsure which path to choose.
There is no reason for it, but Terra chooses left. If this stretches too long, they can always go back and check the other pathways. A cistern should have a stairway or a slope that heads up toward the city.
It's either fate, luck, or his heart that he should thank, because his choice is the correct one. A stairway layered in stones heads upward until it reaches wooden doors. Garnet pushes upward against them.
"They're bolted," she says, exerting all her force onto them. Fate indeed. If he had chosen to stay behind, she would have been stuck here.
Terra pulls on her shoulder. "I don't have the time for this. Stand back."
With his Keyblade, Terra sends an illuminated shockwave of force, partially inspired by the fight he had with his own armor. The doors blast open, breaking apart from the studs and screws that kept them attached to the opening in the ground.
They are in an alleyway, the stars shining above them. A gated fence is locked shut, keeping them from reaching the street. Terra does the same, ripping the entire barrier from its cemented stance on the ground. He heads straight into a sprint, the queen following behind him. The clock tower can be seen, and if they follow its direction, they will eventually make it to the hotel.
Yells and explosions slowly make themselves heard the closer they get. Heartless are appearing everywhere, attacking the townsfolk still out on the streets. A wave of fireballs pummel against some of them, and they're destroyed. Lea runs out from around corner, his Keyblade ablaze in a pillar of flames.
Terra and Garnet head up the fire escape of the hotel, their footsteps clanking on the metal. Balthier is in the distance on the street below, commanding a loud whistle. From seemingly out of nothing, waves of ocean water tower above him, crashing into a force that swallows many Heartless in front of him.
Water magic. Incredibly rare and hard to control.
Lea jumps climbs to the top of a lamp post before the gushing waves can carry him away, yelling, "watch where you're aiming those!"
This isn't the time to dawdle at rare magic. Terra ignores the scene and continues to follow Garnet up to the second to last floor. She struggles to open the window there, so he rips it out just the same as the others. Down the carpeted hallway, a Heartless is blasted through a door, shaking from a bolt of lightning until it disappears.
Rydia's room. The mage has her hand stretched out from the spell she has just cast, leaning on the bedside table. The sound she makes when she sees them borders between a whimper and a sob.
"We all thought you were goners," she says, her green hair damp and sticking to her neck from the horrid fever she has been fighting all night. Garnet immediately opens the vial and takes it to her lips, holding her shoulder in support.
Terra's first move is to replace the water in the pail, emptying it out in the tub before refilling it with something fresh. Fresh is the most important factor, so that Garnet can get right into some healing rituals. He casts Blizzard into the pail, three times for good measure, to get it cold enough.
Garnet dips a washcloth and gently rubs the water onto her patient's face, arms, and palms, whispering prayers in a command that this will work. Rydia, in the meantime, finishes the entire vial of the miracle potion that will eradicate the poison inside her. Terra pulls out a chair for the queen to sit on once she's done.
The first, and worst, person to enter the room is Riku. If he knows about the door, he will follow him back down into the cistern, when he shouldn't be dealing with the agony of such a chore. The boy outstretches his hands and grips Terra's shoulders.
"You're both okay…" There is a shot of guilt mixed with relief, as if Riku has been spared the worst accusation imaginable. "I was wrong about Kefka. I'm so sorry."
Terra scoffs off the remark, his mind wandering to all sorts of lies he can come up with in an effort to shake Riku off his tail. "You weren't. Xehanort was there, like you expected."
There is a sense of awkward stillness in the room. Garnet is laughing with Rydia, who finally has a good reason to smile. Kefka is gone for the night, and is damaged enough that maybe, just maybe, they can get rid of it once and for all. And the knowledge that Xehanort nearly got what he wanted is the unspoken truth that hangs in the air. All of them close calls.
Riku doesn't have a chance to reply when Noctis storms in, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips contorted in a rage. Cloud is close behind him.
"What kind of trick was that to pull?" Noctis barks at Garnet.
She crosses her legs, placing both of her hands onto the rising knee, and keeps her chin up. She doesn't flinch when he yells. She merely looks into his eyes, accepting his words.
"I am sorry I did not say anything," she replies calmly. "I was wrong to keep it to myself. I shouldn't have caused you worry."
Noctis holds his fingers in a snarl, as if he wants to yell some more, but he doesn't have a proper response to such a quick apology. He pulls out of his pocket the necklace that holds her mother's crystal, and hands it over.
"Don't ever do that to me again," he says. "Ever. I didn't know what to do without you." His tone is still angry, but not resentful. If anything, it's grateful.
She clasps the crystal into both her hands. "Thank you for taking such good care of it," she says softly, as if hurt by his words. No, not hurt. Touched and guilty. "I'll never leave your side again." She wears it around her neck, and sighs – as if she is whole again.
Before leaving, Noctis jabs a finger right at Rydia, who is still on her bed, too weak to even stand up. "And don't you get any ideas." He then holds Terra's hands firmly, thanking him, before grabbing the bag of elixirs.
After the king leaves, Cloud rolls his eyes. "Throwing a tantrum. He's such a child," he says, rubbing his forehead. He squeezes Terra's shoulder. "You did good. I'm glad the two of you made it."
When the soldier takes his leave, Rydia stumbles into a sob. She crawls over and takes Garnet's head into an embrace, the queen muttering about how hot she is to the touch due to her fever. Rydia kisses into her hair, and cries.
"Terra, thank you for saving us," she says in between sobs. "You're a true hero."
It's a weird feeling, having to be proud over the fact that he has done the right thing, while still trying to swallow the unshakeable wretched feeling over the decision that he's most ashamed of making.
"Of course," is all he can muster. The smile he forces is weak and shaky.
Garnet sends him a look of compassion, and a subtle nod of approval. He follows Riku out of the hotel room, where the boy stops midway down the stairs heading to the first floor.
"Listen, I am really glad you're okay. I wanted to tell you-"
Terra grips him on the arm, nodding. "I know." A twang of guilt twists in his throat, knowing that he doesn't want to hear anything about Riku's relief that he's alive. He just wants to get this over with.
Riku flashes a gentle smile. His smiles are always sweet, small, and sincere. It only makes Terra feel worse about the lie.
"There's still a bunch of Heartless out there," Riku says. "Let's go." He races down the rest of the stairs, making his way out back out into the streets. Terra stays put and watches, unsure what he's going to do.
Until fate seemingly strikes serendipity again. The perfect person is pacing upwards, catching sight of Terra and gleefully shaking his shoulders. Lea blabbers about how he knew that they were going to be alright all along. Okay, maybe that was a small lie, he was definitely sure they were dead, but it doesn't matter anyway because they're back.
Terra holds his hands up as if to signal a stop. "Lea," he begins, his voice slowly collapsing into a broken crawl. "I found her." Just saying that out loud triggers a couple of tears to fall. "And I need a favor from you."
Lea quits the enthusiastic persona and allows his genuine surprise to show. "Of course. Anything."
"I need to get her now," he says, and Lea nods in understanding. "And I need you to distract Riku for me."
Gripping the railing that stands just a few stories above the ground floor, Lea scoffs. "Are- are you crazy?"
"You only have to keep him off my back."
"No, what you're asking me to do is to piss off someone who has all the power to kill me." Lea emphasizes this argument by pointing to nowhere, as if Riku is on the other side of the wall. "This is just…" at first he is at a loss for words, then they come tumbling out like a swarm of bees. "Stupid. Riku is perfectly capable of helping you. He was specifically chosen to do this."
"I know he's capable, but it isn't about that." Terra raises his voice. "He's the only reason why I'm here. He shouldn't be picking up after my messes. I don't know what I would do if he got stuck in the Realm of Darkness, too." When Lea stares silently, Terra continues, hunching his shoulders over with his palms out, as if begging. "Please. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to him. I just want to fix my own mistakes. You have to understand."
Lea's lips quiver and he crosses his arms, barely looking into Terra's eyes. He swallows loudly, and mutters about how he can't believe he's doing this. "I'll buy you time," he finally says, giving a cold, hard look at him. "Take too long, and I'm spilling my guts to him."
Terra lets out the breath he's been holding in a sharp gasp. "You're a good friend."
"You're only saying that because I'm doing what you asked for." Lea, his arms still crossed, looks to the side. As if facing him is too shameful to handle.
Terra walks down the staircase, his shoulders straight and in a mood hard to describe. Proud that he found her. Relief that he's going to go at it alone. Calm that he won't be a burden to anyone else. Accomplished at being so close to his goal. Released, as if whatever what was weighing down on his shoulders is now gone.
"She better come out of that door," he hears Lea calling to him from above. "Don't make me regret this!"
Terra waves an arm, a smile on his face. He finds the perfect way to define it. It's the same feeling when someone who is content with his life choices is facing death. Complete. Satisfied. Ready.
Down the staircase that leads back into the depths of the cistern with a simple flashlight, he makes a right at the first junction, following the cold, underground hallway back to the Door to Darkness.
Mickey has talked about how this kind of gateway only allows light in, but not out. She must have passed through something similar. The first step then, is to turn this into a Door to Light. Lea will be the one waiting for them, so this new portal will be stabilized. But in order to reach her this way, she must also be waiting for someone she wants to see.
This is the scary part, confirming if she really does want to see him again. Terra pulls out his Wayfinder, tenderly tracing the gold etchings in the middle. He nearly begs it for advice, or to forgive him.
Telling himself not to get carried away by his emotions, he summons the Ends of the Earth, and with both hands and the Wayfinder at the hilt, points it right against the darkness.
Turn the darkness into light. Take the shame of the past and the wrongdoing, and will it into a chance to correct it, to protect her at all costs. To give her hope and walk her out.
"I love you, Aqua," he says, and he turns the Keyblade as if to unlock a door.
A bright white light bursts where the Keyblade touches, cutting through the darkness until it reaches the ground. The light then splits in two directions, tracing the edges until it comes up and around, as if creating a doorframe. An archway of bright white, bordering the inky blackness in between.
Terra laughs out loud. Now, if I can only say that to her face.
Staring into the dark is not the frightening part. The jar that contains Tifa's potion is nearly empty, but this isn't scary, either. He steps through.