AN: Kinda more emotional stuff here, but also kinda slice of life still I know. :D Next chapter will be a bit more of the same, and then after that we get to world action lol.


Terra rolled his neck as he strode out onto the ship's deck.

He looked around, finding only one other person up and about. Just one person, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the open floor.

He smiled, closing his eyes briefly. Of course.

"Hey," he called out, starting forward again.

Riku startled horribly. "Uh, hey!"

Terra laughed as he stopped before the boy. The boy whom his last memory of had been choosing him as his Successor...up until a day ago, when he had suddenly gained an alternate set of memories. These memories involved a series of recent adventures with Riku. Bonding. Talking. Fighting together. Things Terra - this Terra - had never experienced...but still felt every bit as if he had. "Something wrong?"

"N-no!" Riku was silent as Terra lowered himself to the ground to sit with him (cross-legged, just the same as him). Riku turned his head away, put his hands in his lap. Then he shrugged and sighed. "It's just sort of...weird now," he went on, muttering. "I can't sense you like I could before. That armor was easy, clear, but now all I can 'see' is your Heart. Just a floating orb in my mind's eye."

Terra rested his hands on his knees, tilting his head back to gaze into the strange, endless expanse of the Ocean Between. "Hm. Want me to put it on again, then, and we can pretend?" he said, grinning.

Riku laughed. "No. It's not that big of a deal. I can manage to find other ways of picking you out of the crowds."

"Glad to hear it. That's exactly the kind of attitude you should have about this."

"Thanks, uh - Master..."

"You can just call me Terra right now; I'm off the clock," Terra said easily.

"Right. Okay..."

"So...how are things between you and Kairi?"

"As well as things can be," Riku shrugged. "What's it like having a human body again?"

"Oh, it's horrible," Terra confided. "You spend so long - ten years - either as a disembodied Heart, or a disembodied mind in a suit of armor, and you really forget all the little nagging, annoying nuisances that come with a living body. Wake up in the morning and fall out of bed because you slept on your leg wrong, bang your elbow against a wall because your brain just felt like twitching the wrong way at exactly the wrong time..."

"Has that sort of stuff...been happening to you?" Riku ventured.

"Yep. But, even so, I wouldn't want to go back to living without it all. It's those little things, those random, strange things that really just...it pulls it all together."

"Pulls what all together?"

"Well, the fact that I'm alive again at all," Terra replied. He lowered his head, gazing at Riku straight on, now. "What Kairi did for me, giving me this back again after so long...however she did it-"

"Princess of Heart powers. I- uh- I'm trying not to question it," Riku said, half serious.

"True enough," Terra agreed. "But from what I've heard about Sora's recent problems with his state of being, we might want to do a little bit of questioning."

"Yeah...I heard about that one too," Riku nodded. "He turned back into a Heartless for a minute, against Xemnas...back in...Castle Oblivion? Right? That place that used to be your home...?"

"That's right," Terra frowned somewhat. "Huh..."

"What?"

"I suppose that explains why it felt familiar to me, when my Heart connected with Kairi's while she was there before." Terra smiled again. "Even if my mind didn't know it, somehow my Heart knew...it was home."

"You- want to go back there? Aqua could get you there. You guys could all- I don't know-"

Terra shook his head. "Not just yet, I think. Wonderful thought, though. Kind thought. But...I think it's safer to leave it as it is - for now. I've already seen it destroyed once before. I wouldn't want to have to watch it happen a second time."

"S-sorry, I-"

"It's alright. Don't worry about it." Terra paused. "What I am sort of worrying over, however, is what happened to Sora there. The darkness in his Heart...overwhelming him again? Reshaping him? And easily so - because he doesn't have a body anymore? Not his true body; Roxas is using that at the moment. And that...leaves his Heart more vulnerable than a typical one. And I think mine is the same, now, in this current state."

"Probably something like that. I guess things aren't totally...stable there?" Riku said slowly.

"Exactly," Terra sighed, raising a hand to push back his hair. "Now, you didn't see it, but you had to have sensed it - that Heartless form I was trapped in...that my Heart was stuck inside of, connected to Xehanort. Er, Ansem. But what happens if my unstable existence here ends up reverting as well? What happens if I turn back into that Heartless? I think having two potential Heartlesses around could cause some problems. Chaos. Damage. Even injuries, if we happen to change back in a crowded place. A city, or a town."

"From the sounds of it, Sora was only focused on attacking Xemnas, though - right? So he wasn't completely gone, even then, was he?" Riku said quickly. "I don't think you'd be too far gone, either. You wouldn't hurt your friends or anything. You wouldn't hurt any of us. You'd probably just- do what Sora did and go nuts on your enemies...which can only be a good thing."

Terra smiled again. "Also true. Thank you, Riku. I'm not quite as worried now as before, I think."

"Uh...yeah - you're welcome?" Riku flushed, smiling too now.

"So..."

"Soooo...?"

"What do you think of Xion and Roxas?" Terra said curiously.

"Is this another test?" Riku responded.

"Just wondering. It's important that people get along - especially the apprentices. So?"

Riku shrugged, shifting where he sat. "Well...they're better people than me."

"Come on."

"What? It's just the truth. Have some humility, and all, right? I thought you'd be happy."

Terra frowned. He shook his head, reaching out to touch the boy's shoulder. "There's a difference between humility, acknowledging one's faults, and veering off into total self-deprecation. You don't need to beat yourself up all the time." He hesitated, then he joked, "Isn't that Kairi's job, anyway?"

Riku laughed, even as he turned away. He threw up his hands, let them fall into his lap again. "Hah...yeah. She seems to think so. She was always sharp with the comebacks - quick to get a shot in right back - but man she's taken it to a new level lately."

"Want me to have a talk with her about easing back on it?"

"No," Riku said swiftly - firmly. "Hey - I mean - she's not literally beating the hell out of me anymore, is she? She's talking to me, too. At least as much as she has to. And I've...told her some stuff I should have said a long time ago, and she listened. So that's- she deserves to. She can throw as many barbs at me as she likes. I can take it. And if it makes her feel better..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Anyways, it's not too different from the dynamic we used to have, like I said. All three of us. We were just like that. Sora and I had our sparring sessions, and Kairi and I had our...verbal sparring sessions. It's actually kind of- promising. A..."

"A return to form, in a way? A familiarity?"

"Yeah. I think if she thinks...the same way about it...if this is her way of trying to get back to the old dynamic we had going...then I'm okay with it."

"Well, as long as you're sure. If it gets too intense, we will have to talk to her about it, you know. No matter what you've done, or feel you deserve - you still shouldn't have to sit and take a beating. Physical or verbal."

Riku grinned. "Come on - I'm tougher than that. Losing my vision hasn't made me into a wuss or something."

"Good - then you can do a hundred laps around the ship once the others are up," Terra quipped.

Riku's grip faded somewhat. "You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah, I'm kidding - come on, Riku," Terra laughed, leaning over and clapping him on the arm.

Riku laughed too, loud and true.

It was good to see. Good to hear.

"You didn't really answer my question, though, did you?" Terra said, after the laughter had died. "What do you think of Xion and Roxas?"

Riku shrugged again. "I dunno? I met Xion already - didn't talk to her much before, sure - but I knew her. She's good, she's nice. And Roxas is just...this whole Nobody business is weird, but he's an okay guy." He paused. "Well, I thought I knew Xion; apparently she's not Kairi's sister - she's a 'Replica' made by Xemnas? By that Organization of his they all fought? Well, she is her sister, just...that's how they still see each other, I guess," he finished lamely. "And that's cool? Great. Good for them. Right?"

"Right." Terra said simply. "The bond they have isn't easily broken - no matter what her true origin or even nature is. Because how they define that bond themselves is what's truly important. That's what matters."

"Right...yeah..." Riku adopted a thoughtful look, bowing his head slightly. Then- "Hey...could I ask you something?"

"You just did - but sure, go ahead."

Riku laughed, then grew serious again. "Um, well, it must be about a month ago by now...but, when Kairi, Sora and I were fighting Ansem in Radiant Garden...Ansem locked us out behind a barrier, and Kairi had to fight him alone for a while. She was losing pretty badly - don't tell her I said that - and Sora and I..." He stopped. Started again. "That was the moment I really realized what I'd become, what I'd been doing. How far I'd- gotten away from who I was before. How much I'd- changed. For the worse. And I remembered...our promise. I remembered it, and- and all I wanted in that moment, with all my Heart, was to do what I vowed to do: to protect my friends."

Terra nodded. "Right..."

"Yeah, and then- I got your Keyblade. I used it against Ansem. How did that- I mean, did you..."

Terra reached out again, grasping Riku's shoulder. Squeezing him. "I didn't do anything, Riku: you did. Your strength of Heart won out, that day, that moment - the moment it was needed most."

"But, still, I mean you didn't- sense or- did you know it was me, or..."

Terra let Riku go, sitting back again. "I do remember hearing you - I remember you reaching out to me. To my...armor. That me. And I - he - was willing to lend you some of his strength, yes."

Riku looked away, his hands becoming fists in his lap now. "Would you still have done it, if you knew what I'd done? If you knew everything before...?"

"Of course."

"Really? Why?"

"Because it was what Kairi needed in that moment - for you to have the tools necessary to help her. To protect your friend."

"But, you- you'd have just trusted me?"

"Have you proven to me that I shouldn't - at any point in our relationship so far?"

Riku looked like he was honestly trying to come up with an example - and failing. "No...I guess not?"

"There you go, then."

Riku sighed. "You're a terrible Master."

"Am I? Why's that?" Terra grinned.

"You put way too much trust in an idiot like me," Riku replied.

"Well now, does that make me the bigger idiot, or...do you think that's you, still?"

"Hey!"

"You said it," Terra said mildly.

"Agh...fine, right - I did. And it's me."

"Actually, it's me." Terra stood, cracking his back and stretching high. "You didn't lose your body to an obviously-evil-man-in-hindsight for ten years, screw over your best friends for ten years, destroy your home, help defeat your own Master, leading to hundreds of worlds falling to darkness, to suffering and chaos and-"

"Okay, okay - you sort of do have me beat in the screw-up department!" Riku said, throwing up his hands.

"That's right - I do. Try not to forget that when you're being so hard on yourself, alright?" Terra told him, striding away from the boy. "Anyway, I'll go and see who's awake or not."

"Okay..." Riku acknowledged, huffing.

Terra chuckled to himself as he descended into the ship's interior. Little rooms, hallways - the vast cargo hold area, with stacks of boxes and crates, support beams...

It really was an extraordinary ship - and the story of how it had been..."acquired" was even more so.

He glanced around, examining it all as he walked. He raised a hand to his mouth as a yawn escaped him.

Living again really was a-

His mind registered movement ahead of him, coming out of a narrow corridor in shadow. He stopped - as she stopped.

Kairi stood in the doorway like a deer in headlights. Her entire body coiled, rigid - her lips parted, her eyes staring straight ahead. Past him, beyond him.

"Hey," he said lightly. "Sorry, wasn't quite paying attention to my surroundings..."

Kairi blinked. She swallowed. She gave him a quavering smile as she stepped aside - into a little space between the wall and a stack of high crates. She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes still with that look in them...

"Sorry..." Terra said softly, carefully moving past her to proceed onward.

All while mentally kicking himself, of course.


"How long are the pair of you going to keep avoiding each other? It's getting just a little ridiculous."

Terra drew a deep breath, turning to face Aqua in the ship's mess hall - slash kitchen. "How long are you going to keep avoiding Riku and Roxas's uses of darkness?" he replied carefully, scooping up his morning meal onto a wooden plate.

Aqua glowered. Then she sighed. "That's an entirely separate issue. This is a Master and an Apprentice who can't be in the same room without making each other flinch!"

Terra shook his head, brushing back his hair and striding off toward the long table in middle of the room. He sat down, set his plate down, and began to dig into its contents. "Mmm. These are good eggs," he said, raising his fork and showing them to Aqua.

"Wonderful," Aqua said flatly. "Terra, we need to talk about this."

"And we need to talk about your reactions to Riku and Roxas."

"Stop that. Stop deflecting - stop putting this back onto me."

Terra frowned. He set his utensil down and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Both of us have our issues - things we need to work past - all right? They're equally as valid."

"Well, we aren't focusing on my issues at the moment, are we?" Aqua said coolly, raising her eyebrow at him - and crossing her own arms right back.

Terra chuckled softly, smiling.

"Stop that," Aqua hissed. "Take this seriously, please."

"I'm sorry. It's just been ten years since I could laugh or smile - with vocal cords and a full belly, mind you - it's surprisingly cathartic," Terra said lightly.

Aqua's expression softened. Empathy shone there. "Agreed...but we still need to have this conversation."

Terra uncrossed his arms, spreading them at her. "Alright. Look, Aqua: Kairi's a kid with deep-rooted childhood traumas. Traumas inflicted on her as a four year old by me."

"By Xehanort! Don't you ever say-!"

"Right, by Xehanort," Terra amended, his arms falling to his sides. He cocked a grin at her - though, it didn't last. "Kairi herself told me the same thing - insistently, actually. She's a smart girl, she's wise for her age - but knowing something in her head isn't the same as knowing it in her Heart. And what her Heart tells her every time she sees me out of the corner of her eye now, or runs across me in the dark, or when I make a move in her direction...is that she is a terrified little girl all over again, and her- her abductor, her- god knows what- is coming for her again!"

Terra took in a gasping breath, his eyes burning with tears now. He shook his head, putting his hand over his face. "And you know what, Aqua? She has every single right in this World to feel that way! S-so...so I, as the adult, as a Master, am going to do what little I even can to make it all easier on that little girl!"

"Terra..." Soft footfalls, and then a slender hand was on his arm, as Aqua dropped down into the seat beside him. "That's so amazing and wonderful of you - it is - but do you think it's going to benefit either of you, in the long run? You can't keep dancing around each other, staying at arm's length. How will you fight together, how will you even do- anything if you can't be in the same room without-"

"I can, and I will." Terra swiped at his eyes and let his hand fall. He gazed into Aqua's face, so startlingly close now. "I have to. For her. Because she doesn't deserve to have her worst nightmare right in her face all the time now..."

"Are you sure you're doing it for her - or for yourself?"

"What?"

"Are you afraid to face her again? To talk to her? Are you afraid of what she'll say to you?" Aqua pressed gently, quickly.

Terra shook his head, turning away. "No...no. She told me herself, when our Hearts connected, back in Castle Oblivion - back home. She had to reassure me; she said it was all Xehanort, that we're both...both his victims. That she doesn't blame me. But like I said already: this isn't about logic or reason. It's about emotions, it's about instinct. And hers are screaming at her now. And I want to help her to not have to scream anymore."

"Terra-"

"I can hear her screams in my head, Aqua," Terra choked out, curling a fist before himself. "I remember what I- what- I remember it, I can see it - Radiant Garden, the Heartless - and her - that house, running and...and I chased her down and I cornered her and I just- I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING, I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF, I COULDN'T HELP HER! SAVE HER FROM ME! SHE WAS CRYING, SHE WAS SCREAMING FOR HELP FROM ANYONE, AND I WAS SCREAMING IN MY OWN HEAD AND..."

Terra took a deep breath, raising both hands before him as fists - wanting nothing more than to bash his own skull in - then he seized his head in his grasp and squeezed. "S-she shouldn't have rescued me from that darkness - I wasn't worthy of this...this second chance...this form she gave me..." he whispered. "She did this for me - did something impossible - when I was the one who failed her before. Who hurt her, who- I d-did that to her and I couldn't lift a finger to save her...and she saved me despite it..."

"Because you do deserve this. You've missed ten years of your life because of Xehanort - and she knew that. And she wanted to give you your life back!"

"N-no, no...My Lingering Will had the right idea - he wanted to destroy Xehanort, and me along with him..."

"Your...?"

"Ah - a-armored me..."

"That's what we're calling him, then?" Aqua said, with a tiny smile.

Terra couldn't smile back.

"If he wanted to destroy Xehanort - and sacrifice your Heart's existence in the process - then why did he help save you?" Aqua pressed. "It seems to me like he realized he had it wrong. And when he saw a chance to help give you another shot at life...he took it, too. He helped make it happen. Because you are worthy of it, Terra."

Terra just shook his head, tears continuing to fall.

Aqua sighed, then she leaned over and embraced him.


"Hi."

Terra froze. He turned slowly to face Kairi on the deck of the ship. He looked past her, to see Aqua still taking Sora through his latest set of magic-infused Keyblade swings. "Hi...is there something you need?" he asked finally, focusing on the girl and giving his best smile. His most harmless smile, he thought.

Kairi herself seemed to be working up to responding at all. Looked doubtful. Looked- well, like she was standing before the visage of her worst fear (even if she knew, logically, of course...). "Yes. I wanted to ask you something," she said quietly - a tremor to her voice, Terra detected.

"Okay. Go for it," he said lightly.

"I was wondering if...you could teach me how to do those Keyblade transformations. I think I have basic combat down well enough by now - so I thought I should learn something new. Something that could be really useful. Like the way you explained it to us before, during your demonstration..." Kairi continued on, hesitant for more reasons than one.

Terra closed his eyes, recalling those recent memories he had absorbed from his armor. That second set of ten years of memories. Recent days spent with Riku...and then of course, the reunion with Aqua and Ven and these children... He opened his eyes, smiling at her. He nodded carefully. "That's an excellent idea, Kairi - and point. If you want to get a jump on this, I'll be glad to teach you as best I can. Just..."

"What?"

"Just as long as you're comfortable with it."

Kairi glanced at him directly, for first time - then away again. Then, she made a little choked noise, deep in her throat. "It's not fair..."

"Hm?"

"I'm not being fair to you," Kairi said loudly, looking him in the eye. Forcing herself to, he could see that. The anxiety, the way her lips were shaking, the discoloration of her cheeks... "It's not right that you should have to - walk around on eggshells because of me! It's my problem, they're my memories - and you aren't at fault for any of it! And I'm sorry...it's not fair, it isn't right...!"

Terra watched her, his hands loosely held at his sides. He gave another nod. "Maybe," he said gently. "But it's how you feel inside - and that's valid. It's completely understandable. And I don't- it's not a bother to me to do whatever I can for you...to ease those feelings in you."

"Understandable or not, that still doesn't make it right. And as much as you are trying from your end of things to make it easier on me, I should be trying to make it easier on you, as well!" Kairi said, breathless. That glaring look of determination and defiance on her face now. Defiance of herself, this time...

"Kairi, you're- you're fourteen. You don't have any responsibility or duty to do that for me. There's no- obligation, no...look, it's nice, it's compassionate, it's thoughtful - but you shouldn't be worrying about that. I'm the Master - you come first. Because that's my duty: to make sure all the children under my care are comfortable, and safe, and happy. All that matters is that you're doing all right. For me, I have Aqua and Ven to help me sort out my own problems. Deal with my own issues. You just need to focus on yourself, okay?"

Kairi dropped her head, her hands going behind her back. She took a breath and looked up at him again, holding his gaze. "Right. Don't worry about me, though; I'll be fine. I wouldn't have asked you for this if I couldn't handle it. So please? Could you teach me?"

"Of course. Yes. I'll teach you," Terra affirmed. "I'll need to run it by Aqua, of course, but I'm sure she'll be happy about it."

"T-thank you..." Kairi whispered, looking away. "And I'm still sorry."

"It's okay. I more than understand. I really do. It doesn't hurt my feelings, it's not upsetting to me - nothing like that. I promise. Alright?"

Kairi nodded into the distance, her face still troubled. Upset. With herself. "Anyways, I should- get back to training..."

"Sure." Terra smiled, turning away.

But over his shoulder, from the corner of his eye, he saw her go back to Aqua and Sora.

Saw her, too, taking glances back at him, unwillingly. Untrustingly.

That was fine, too.

Terra just hoped...that one day she could stop feeling this way.

Because it wasn't something any kid deserved to feel inside.