Hello and welcome to Lemon Tea! I love tea so much that this is the only fic of this calendar that will be over 1k words, it seems. But tea is so good! And you were right, Creative CutiePrincess D, it cannot talk about tea without Aqua! However, no Ven or Terra there, but a rather unusual fellow instead...

As always, Saphir and I gave each other a duo to write about, and these two were the lucky winners! Hope you'll enjoy!

Aqua took a day of rest from her functions as Master. It was Sunday and all she wanted to do was enjoy a bit of quiet, far from everyone else - as much as she loved them, she needed some time to herself. She had found a table at the Bistro in Twilight Town and was currently enjoying a nice cup of tea (lemon, her favourite) while watching children play around the Plaza. Nothing would break her peace. Or so she thought.

"Is this seat taken? Mind if I join you for a moment?"

The young man facing her was probably around Ven's age, very thin, messy platinum hair, and half a smile Aqua wasn't sure she could trust. There were plenty of free tables around, so she was sure he hadn't picked this one by coincidence. But she was polite and well educated, so she smiled back rather than asking him to leave her alone.

"Of course. I assume there's someone you wish to discuss with me?"

"I see you're as smart as the rumours have it, then," he said with his strange smile. Aqua took a sip of tea.

"I was actually taking some rest, so could we skip the flattery, if you don't mind? If not, we can schedule a meeting. I'd be glad to have a long chat another day."

"Smart, and fierce," he nodded. "No worries, I'll go straight to it, then. You are Aqua, Keyblade Master, one of the most talented ones at that. Don't look at me like that, this is no flattery, simple facts. My name is Joshua. Who I am exactly is of no importance. Let's just say that where I'm from, the world I'm from, something is happening, something big and wrong."

"And you need my help to fix that."

"I see this more of a trade than a favour. See, there's a game going on in my city, and I'm overviewing it. Have been for years. It's not a perfect game, some might call it unfair, but that is how the things are working there. However, something changed lately, and I'm not quite sure that I can explain exactly what that is, only that it is not something I can deal with myself. Something that has been jeopardising the game and putting lives at stake."

"You mention a trade, but I don't see what's in it for me." Aqua sighed. Of course, she would gladly help someone without getting anything in return, but her job was to fight Darkness, and he was so vague she wasn't sure that was what was going on there. And she couldn't help but feel he was vague on purpose. Could she really trust him? She had learnt to be wary of this type of person. Simply thinking about that gave her a headache.

"Naturally. Here's my offer: I sign you up for the game in my world. That is the only way to find out what's really happening, and there's only one slot open, hence my asking you alone. I'll spare the details about the game, but just know that losing is not an option you might want to consider. Knowing your skills, I'm sure this will be child's play anyway. And as for what you get from me… Let's just say I hear a lot of things from a lot of places, and I've heard some fascinating stories about a boy who appeared out of nowhere. A boy with brown, spiky hair, fighting with a strange oversized key… Help me, and I'll tell you everything I know about these rumours. You know what? Help me and I'll tell your friends everything I know about these rumours, so that they can begin to investigate while you're working on your part of the deal."

His words sent a shiver down her spine. Sora. For a year, they had been looking everywhere for him, unsuccessfully. And now this boy appeared out of nowhere, offering new intel about it? It sounded almost too good to be true. But they were desperate, so perhaps there was no other choice there. Her vision was starting to blur, and she wondered if she was tearing up about the thought of finding Sora again.

"Fine. I'll help you. How can I join your world?"

Joshua's smile grew. It wasn't a cute, genuine smile. He looked like a predator.

"I knew you would accept this deal. Please, take this."

He gave her a strange black and white pin, but she had trouble focusing on the pattern drawn on it. She was feeling really unwell.

"I've already prepared everything for your venue. Make sure to find a partner quickly, or things could go really wrong."

"What did… you do?" Even speaking was getting difficult now. He didn't answer, standing up, looking at the table with a sorry look.

"What a shame, you didn't even finish your cup…"

"You… Drugged me."

"I'm afraid I did a little more than that. See, the rules for the Reaper's Game are a bit peculiar. Good luck, Aqua. I'll see you in Shibuya."

The pain was unbearable, until the pain was gone. Everything was gone. The Master collapsed on the ground, lifeless, while the mysterious young man walked away, not even paying her a second glance.

When Aqua opened her eyes, Twilight Town was gone, Joshua nowhere to be seen. She was in a city she had never seen before, a place crowded with more people than she'd ever seen in her life. She was lying on the road, but no one paid her any attention. It felt like they didn't even see her. Someone walked right through her, and she wondered who between them and her was the ghost. She suspected the latter.

"Are you okay ?"

A young woman stood before her, offering her hand. She could very obviously see her. She was around Aqua's age, with a warm smile that made Aqua trust her more than she could ever trust Joshua. The woman had raven hair, kind gold eyes - for some reason, they didn't scare Aqua even though she was now terrified of this colour - and when Aqua took the offered hand, she could feel that the girl was stronger than she looked.

"You're new here, I take. Welcome to the Reaper's Game! This is probably really confusing, but I'll do my best to explain everything to you. If you want me as your game partner, that is. I wouldn't want to impose myself."

Find a partner, Joshua had said. She didn't quite understand where she was, or what had happened, but having someone to guide her sounded like a good idea.

"Gladly. There's a lot of explaining to do, I suppose. My name is Aqua, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Aqua! You're right, many rules, and not that much time, I'm afraid. Here's the most important rule: we have 7 days to win the game. If we don't, we'll face erasure. And that's not something we want to happen."

She looked somber for a second, before shaking her head and smiling again. "It's a pleasure teaming up with you! I'm sure we'll be unstoppable now! By the way, I don't really remember my name, but feel free to call me X. Let's have fun together~"

Aqua smiled back at her. She would do everything to save Sora. Whatever it meant, she would not face erasure.

yaaaay some Twewy! I love me some Twewy! I have yet to finish Neo, though.

I would like to deeply thank FFXIV long waiting queues lately, it's actually giving me time to write and to catch up. Hopefully every prompt will be written by Sunday!

The next one is titled "Anchor", stay tuned~~