It's honestly really disheartening that no one's reviewed this story at all. Like, I've had zero feedback on both FFN and AO3 and uh… I'm surprised I'm still writing this because I am not a very self motivated person. Is my story not interesting? Does my writing suck with this level of nothing? Is anyone enjoying this? I don't know. It takes me hours to write these chapters because I'm trying to do a good job, is it even worth it?
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Ventus was glad he managed to sleep well, so he was a little startled to open his door to find a nerve-wracked Aqua. She was flustered and jumped when he opened his door. He stared at her in confusion, "You ok, Aqua?"
She flushed as she minded her fingers close to her chest, a warmth to her cheeks as she glanced away from him and spoke softly, "Uh, I- S-sorry about last night."
Ventus blanked out for a second before he huffed, "I'm not upset."
Aqua made a few abandoned motions before slumping, her hands clasped at her waist as she had her head bowed, "But it still went further than I'd meant it to."
Ventus shifted and placed his hands on his hips, observing her for a long moment, "I won't disagree with that, but I don't regret that it happened. You've been struggling with this for a long time…" He tilted his head and softly inquired, "Are you ashamed?"
Aqua gasped, looking to him in startled realization, "I-...maybe..? I don't know why though…" She bowed her head and frowned.
Ventus moved closer to her before taking one of her hands in his and tugged on her lightly, "C'mon."
She blinked as she watched him, "Huh?"
Ventus smiled, "Let's go for a quick walk. Terra'll get suspicious, but there's no point letting you feel this way when we're going to be going to the Realm of Darkness together."
Aqua allowed herself to relax with a sigh, gripping Ventus's hand in return, "...You're right. If I let myself feel this way, the Darkness will only toy with me."
Ventus agreed, "Mmhmm."
She smiled as she let him guide her along, "It's really ok?"
Ventus nodded, "We certainly won't be able to do anything like that once we leave here. If the Darkness was already teasing you over your feelings for me, why give it more ammunition?"
Aqua hummed as she thought it over, "You're right…"
Ventus looked at her, "I also think it has a little something to do with the ideas you still have from your home World. To be prim and proper, and to do things in what is considered the correct order."
Aqua started as she looked at him in surprise. He was grinning at her as she realized he was right. The only one ashamed here was herself. She shook her head, "Sometimes I wish I knew what sort of upbringing you had, Ven."
He chuckled, "A Keyblader's upbringing apparently. You saw those books."
Aqua huffed, recalling some of the titles she and Terra had chuckled over, "I can't believe you found all of them." Ventus smiled widely, turning his face away from her as he snickered to himself. She raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny, Ven?"
Ventus finally turned to her, a mischievous look to him, "We didn't get rid of all of them."
She stopped, staring at him as he couldn't help his mirth, "Sweet Light Ven, you were thirteen! You didn't keep any of them, did you?!"
He laughed raucously, "I did. Only because they were actually well written novels instead of cheap porno literature."
Aqua pouted at him as he gently tugged her along again, "I can't believe you. I know you had your focuses, but you were supposed to be innocent."
He laughed loudly before he hid his mouth behind his free knuckle as he coughed lightly to get himself under control. "I'm sorry for ruining that for you, Aqua."
She huffed as she thought it over, "So is that why you're not… upset?"
He shrugged, "I mean… It's not like it was a particularly strong thought on my mind, but I have done some things on purpose to see how you'd react."
Aqua glared at him as he quickly panicked, "Not- not often! Like, barely ever, but I was able to pick up on the fact you had some sort of like for me."
Aqua blushed as she glanced away from him, "So you teased me."
Ventus rolled his eyes, "No, I just noticed your reactions and went with it. I'm sorry."
Aqua sighed lightly, squeezing his hand for a moment, "Well, with Terra around it's not like we're going to do anything."
Ventus hummed, "No… but maybe when we come back, we could talk properly..?"
Aqua thought it over for a long moment before stopping. He paused with her and turned slightly to watch her more easily. Slowly she nodded, "Yeah… but are you sure about that?"
Ventus tilted his head for a moment before slowly nodding, "We've already lost a decade… and if you've held onto your feelings for me this long, I'm willing to give it a try."
She observed him for a long moment, searching him, "You aren't just going along with this to spare my feelings, are you?"
"No." Ventus glanced around before he motioned for her to lean down. She did so with a vaguely confused look but a strange knowing smile on her face as he met her halfway and kissed her. It was only for a short moment, but when he pulled away he looked her directly in the eyes, "I respect you a lot Aqua, I'd never string you along just to spare your feelings. Also, there's a reason I told you not to mother me."
She blushed as she straightened her posture and lightly covered her lips, embarrassed, "Oh."
He tugged her again gently, "We better meet up with Terra and Riku before they get suspicious."
Aqua nodded as she let him guide her. Her chest felt lighter, after agonizing that she'd messed up the evening before.
It was only when they got near the top of the stairs as they neared the main hall that Ventus winked at her and slowly released her hand, running ahead as he made a show of himself.
They still had so much to learn about themselves and each other.
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It didn't take long after Terra, Aqua, and Ventus had left that Riku understood just why it was that they insisted a Wielder absolutely had to be present on this land.
The World seemed to worm its way into his bones, making the idea of leaving it alone for even a minute wrong in a way he hadn't felt in some time.
It was like when he had worn the Seeker's face. It was wrong, even if he'd accepted it at the time.
He rubbed his arm, looking around the main hall before leaving it behind. He had things he needed to do, but clearly he needed some sort of rotation plan.
He messaged the others, enquiring if anyone would be willing to help him out. Soon enough they figured out a rotation for Guarding the land, Lea asking if Isa could also join them when he wasn't busy.
So long as the Castle didn't mind, he had no problem with it.
It took one week for Riku to understand just how demanding the Castle was, and found himself annoyed he hadn't been warned about it.
Unfortunately for him, the Castle hadn't nagged Aqua and the others for a reason.
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Riku had been having a nice dream. Honestly, it was rare he had such pleasant sleep, so when he woke up to the see-through Memory of Ansem Seeker of Darkness, he groaned and pulled his covers over his face, "Really?"
The Memory chuckled, 'Come now boy, didn't you say you'd miss me?'
Riku grumbled, "I take it back."
Ansem chuckled, 'Well, unfortunately there's an important task I need for you to carry out.' Riku pulled the blanket down as he looked incredulously at the Memory. The phantom huffed, 'I need you to do this. The Castle earnestly requests your cooperation, Master Riku. I could not ask this of Aqua and the others.'
Riku sighed heavily before sitting up, glaring at Ansem, "What."
'The Memorial the children put up for Master Eraqus… the Castle needs you to retrieve the Master Keyblade.'
Riku stared blankly as he slowly took in that information before squinting, "Does the Castle think it's funny?"
Ansem sighed and rolled his eyes, 'Boy. Eraqus was a beloved Guardian, I didn't want to hurt those children's feelings by making them dismantle their memorial.'
Riku sighed as he threw his legs over the side of the bed, "But everyone's going to be mad at me."
Ansem shrugged, 'An unfortunate part of Mastery.'
Riku shook his head as he got up and ready for the day as the Memory faded away.
After taking his time to eat a granola bar and drink some tea, he set out towards where Master Keeper was placed. He took his time, enjoying the breeze and sunlight as he did as the Castle bid of him.
When he arrived, he realized the flower wreath was wilted and drying, coming to the abrupt understanding that the three of them had clearly been visiting it daily to keep it fresh.
A wave of guilt passed through him as he frowned, gently removing the three wayfinders from their places. He carefully pocketed them as he moved to remove the wreath from its place. He set it down on the ground as he straightened up and grasped the hilt.
Riku bit back a yell of pain as he hissed, "Oh come on!"
The Keyblade was angry, nearly vibrating in his grip as he pulled it out of the dirt.
I was not repaired by one only to be left outside in useless memoriam by another!
Riku sighed, somewhat getting used to the Keyblade's bite on his hand, "Sounds great. I'm here to take you in, so can you… not bite me?" He was annoyed.
The Keyblade seemed to ponder this as it searched his Heart more thoroughly than any other he'd come into contact with before. He nearly squirmed at how intense it was, frowning deeply as he glared at it.
Hmm… I see. Very well then, temporary Guardian of the Land of Departure, Riku. I give you my thanks, for I am
Master's Fortitude
The stinging in his right hand stopped, and Riku allowed himself to relax with a sigh as he dismissed it. He then stared at the hole left behind the ground as he tried to decide what to do about it. He ruffled his hair before pulling out his Gummi Phone and messaging Naminé for ideas.
There wasn't an artistic bone in his body, but he didn't want Terra, Aqua, and Ventus to return to an empty hole and a trashed wreath.
They'd be upset enough as it was.
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Roxas, Xion, and Naminé arrived via Light Corridor. Naminé had finally managed a bit of a wardrobe change as she wore black sandals, dark purple capris, black tank, and a purple cropped jacket with star shaped silver studs that had its sleeves rolled up. The three of them were carrying various supplies as they crowded around the hole Master Keeper had left behind.
Naminé hummed as she glanced around, "Did you find a nicely sized smooth stone like I requested?"
Riku nodded as he pulled out a tall oval stone. It was smooth from years of water wear. The four of them looked it over for a moment, all unanimously deciding it was perfect. Riku carefully moved to set it down over the hole. Xion then summoned Isa's Claymore, placing it flat side down as Roxas hopped on top of it to push it into the dirt so it wouldn't easily roll away. After a few careful hops he stepped down, the Claymore disappearing as they made any final adjustments to straighten it.
Naminé then took a paint brush and carefully wrote Master Eraqus in neat rows going downward. They let it set for a moment before Roxas used Oathkeeper to laser burn with controlled beams of Light what Naminé had written. They stood tense as Roxas carefully carved. It was delicate work that forced a different sort of control than he was used to, but it was still a good sort of training.
After that Xion and Naminé got to pulling out various perennial flowers. Spiked Speedwell, Lavender, and Baptisia. There were a few other varied plants, but they didn't want to take up too much room so that Aqua and the others could have a chance to add in their own preferences. They carefully removed the surrounding grass and created a small pleasant dirt oval around the stone. Carefully each plant bundle was placed. White, purple, and yellow carefully arranged around the stone until it was done. Roxas and Riku then began to place slightly larger than palm sized stones around the tilled dirt to help designate the area of the small garden until they met in the middle behind the stone.
The finishing touch was a small rectangular slab of granite with a groove carved into it in front of the marker. There, Riku carefully placed each Wayfinder, the necklaces twisted to try and keep them out of the dirt as the tiny charms at their ends were also carefully tucked into the stone.
It was late afternoon when they finished, stepping back as they observed their work.
They all turned to one another with a happy nod, pleased with the job they'd done to replace Master Eraqus's Memorial.
They turned to wash up from their work and eat when they were startled at the sight of Young Eraqus's Memory. He smiled at them as he gave them a short bow in thanks before he faded away.
One day, years in the future while caring for the garden, it would be found that there was an 'X' messily engraved near the base in the back of the stone, as if to hide it from the eyes of others. Though they wouldn't understand its significance, the Castle would always remember its Guardian's Will and Memory.
Even the painful ones.
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More and more Lea and Isa came along to train with Roxas and Xion. Naminé would join them once a week as she slowly became more comfortable with the Land as she found it easier and easier to concentrate on the Links of Sora's Memories while there.
Riku would come and go during those times to Radiant Garden to see the Restoration Committee's progress with Sora's Data.
Over time Cid updated all of their phones, some of them noting an extra batch of untouched Data. The blond ex-pilot simply winked with a grin, "One o'ya'll see the fruits of my labor. Loading this onto all'a y'er phones is merely insurance."
Who were they to argue?
A couple of months passed with weekly rotations of who would stay at the Land of Departure full time. Even Lea and Isa started to rotate in. Isa would read through the archives, finding past records and notes that he felt were relevant to the Wielder's tutelage. Lea went through Eraqus's study himself while also keeping in mind the notes Aqua and the others had left behind.
And then he found it. He couldn't help but laugh as he stood and located Isa deep in a stack of dusty parchment.
"Isa!"
The blue haired man sighed as he rolled his eyes, looking up and turning from his work. His hair was tied into a high bun to keep it out of the way, while his jacket had been discarded on a chair some time ago, "What, Lea?"
Lea shimmied over to him and shoved the notebook into his face. Isa pulled back from it with an annoyed look thrown Lea's way before he took it and read the passage over.
Lea kept snickering and laughing to himself as Isa read the passage over.
It took him a long moment to get past Lea's immature behavior to really understand what was so funny.
He groaned as he leaned back, his face raised towards the ceiling as he gave a side glance at Lea.
A long moment passed, not a single hint of a smile on his face as Lea finally calmed down into a frustrated slump, "Oh c'mon Isa. Tell me that's not totally hilarious. Just think if it were Roxas or Xion who'd done that."
Isa barked a laugh as he straightened out and covered his mouth, "It's immature, Lea."
The redhead blew a raspberry at his friend as he pulled the notebook out of his hands, snickering at the entry once more as he read it out loud in a reporting tone, "'The Erotic Novel incident, of which thirteen year old Ventus, Rank Apprentice found over one hundred perverse novels hidden throughout our established records.' Dearly Beloved that's funny."
Roxas popped around the doorframe all confused innocence, "Axel, what's an Erotic Novel?"
Lea nearly flung the journal at his friend as he choked, Xion popping up next him in similar confusion. Isa finally laughed raucously as Lea floundered at their innocent expressions. "Uh, well." He cleared his throat with a cough, "You're both still too young for those."
Roxas and Xion gave each other somewhat leery looks before Roxas turned back to Lea, "Is it like the switch thing you tried to explain to me that one time?"
Isa lost it, finally burying his face into his hands as Lea's soul tried to escape his body, "N-no guys. I really should've explained all of that better, but being a Nobody for so long kinda made me forget a particular part of life called romance. I was really wrong to talk about switching a girl's switches, Roxas."
Xion frowned as she seemed to catch on the connotations, "Axel, are you serious? Switches?" Lea flushed as Roxas looked at her confused. Clearly Ruki had been educating Xion and Naminé properly in what it was to be a real girl.
Xion rolled her eyes hard as she pulled Roxas along, "Let's go through Ven's room. I'm pretty sure I saw some interesting books in there…"
Lea tensed as they left, not at all sure what they'd noted but unable to help himself as he thought, 'Wait, did pure innocent Ventus have Adult Novels in his room? Oh no.'
Isa got himself under control as he snickered, "Leave them, Lea."
Lea turned to him panicked, "B-but! Isa!"
Isa rolled his eyes as he got back to what he'd been reading previously, "They're real teenagers now. Someday they'll be enrolled in a real school, with teens talking about sex and drugs like it was the weather."
Lea slumped, "Yeah, but…" He floundered with a sigh, "I'll check in with Ruki and Aeros to see just what it is they've explained…"
Isa hummed, "You do that."
Lea huffed as he walked out, glancing at the journal and snickering again as he read the rest of the report, noting Ventus's sass about the books being Worlds thus preventing a huge book burning.
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Xion held Roxas's hand as they wandered the Castle peacefully after leaving Lea and Isa. They'd trained and had Gummi phone lessons with Ienzo, and were simply making the most of the time they had before dinner.
Roxas was slightly flustered though, "I'm sorry."
Xion raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
Roxas shrugged, "Aeros kind of explained some things to me… but I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake."
Xion hummed as she thought it over, "Well, it's not like we grew up like normal people. I'm not really mad, it was Axel who didn't explain well." Or at all.
Roxas blushed, "I almost sent you a letter after he told me about that."
She raised an eyebrow, "A letter…? What for?"
The blond ruffled his hair as he answered, "I thought I'd made you mad… and since Axel had said girls had switches… I kind of… tried to apologize for flipping your switch."
Xion stopped as she looked at him embarrassed, a somewhat horrified look on her face as Roxas was totally red. He fumbled, "Axel told me it was a bad idea to give it to you, so I didn't, ok!?"
Xion sputtered before she burst out laughing as she leaned on him. He teetered before bracing against her, "It's not funny!" Yet, Roxas couldn't help as he started laughing with her.
"R-Roxas. Oh my goodness, I'm glad you never sent that because that totally sounds wrong."
He kept his eyes glued to the floor as he tensed, "W-really? In what wa-oooooh." If Roxas could've gone any redder he would have. He could've sunk through the floor as he used his free hand to cover his face, "I didn't mean it like that, though! I was just trying to apologize!"
Xion finally got ahold of herself as she simply giggled and kissed him on the cheek, "I know."
She stepped back and froze, realizing what she'd done as she felt herself go totally red. Both of them were just frozen in the middle of the hall, practically ready to burst into flame from their own embarrassment.
Roxas recovered first, clearing his throat and adjusting his collar while looking to the side as he squeezed her hand, "Maybe we should go outside." Xion nodded vigorously as she let him lead the both of them out in silence. She was looking to her opposite side as Roxas finally started to glance at her from time to time as they made their way down the front stairway. Finally Xion looked at him, a light blush still present on her face as he smiled at her awkwardly, "You're one of the most important people to me, Xion."
She slowly nodded, a more peaceful smile resting on her face, "So are you Roxas, you're one of the most important people to me too. I wouldn't be here without you." She squeezed his hand.
He squeezed back with a nod, a light blush on his cheeks and a gentle look on his face as he then turned a tad conspiratorial, "We can't let Axel notice. He'll totally make fun of us."
Xion huffed as she nodded, "He'll tease us until we start hitting him with Struggle bats."
Roxas contemplated with a hum, "Isn't that a little too nice?"
"Roxas, we're not actually trying to hurt our best friend." He gave her a flat look while she finally relented as she explained with a giggle, "They do kinda hurt enough to make a point."
Roxas nodded triumphantly as they made their way to the plateau, hand in hand as they slowly started to talk about various things, and what it meant to really be People in the many Worlds so full of others.
