Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts
Part 28
Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.
Lestallum
Upon arrival and after getting the vehicles to a car park, the party of seven immediately headed for the power plant. Night was slowly coming to an according to Ignis, but it was still long enough for the daemons to roam around the plant.
Reaching the power plan, Holly, the worker, informed them that daemons had been seen and running amok in the power plant. Unfortunately for the team, she warned them they only had a total of two hazard suits for the task at hand, which meant only Sora and Noctis were able to go in.
Soon enough once they entered, an hour or two later, they returned unharmed and their numbers increased to three. After this Holly treated their mythril to work for the yacht while she was waiting for the team to complete their tasks for her, as a thanks. Once they removed their suits, they were pleasantly surprised to see their third hunter was none other than Gladiolus.
'Did you miss me?', he asked with a smug look.
'Yeah, dude! We had to let Goofy do all the shielding without you!', Prompto remarked, gesturing to the captain. Goofy bashfully rubbed his neck at the boy's words as Kairi looked at Gladiolus' new scars with worry. 'Goodness, what happened to you?', she asked, pointing at his chest. The shield just shrugged and smiled. 'You should have seen the other guy', Gladiolus laughed in good nature, 'But hey I'm back and better than ever'.
'I sure as hell hope so', Noctis remarked with a smirk. At this the shield ruffled his hair teasingly as the prince grunted in irritation, then Sora spoke up. 'Where's Aqua? Isn't she with you?', he asked. 'She's actually at the hotel, we only got back here an hour before you all showed up', Gladiolus explained, 'I headed out here to see what's going on but when daemons started to pop up I had to lean back till back up arrived'.
'Is she ok?', Kairi asked, crossing her arms with worry. He merely smiled with a nod. 'You'll see when we go there…by the way, where's Riku?', he asked finally noticing their silver-haired companion wasn't among the team. 'Here'.
They all turned to see Riku, Iris, and Dustin, a fellow Crownsguard, approaching them. 'Looks like someone had a rough time, wherever he went', Riku teased, gesturing the scars the shield carried. Gladiolus hugged his sister and gave the boy the finger in response to his jab, confusing the other worlders and getting a frown from Ignis. 'So, what did I miss?', Riku asked without batting an eye at the rude gesture.
'We got the mythril and Holly said it's ready for the yacht', Sora said, grinning. 'That's great to hear, looks like you guys are a step closer to Altissia', Iris said. Looking at Noctis, she said: 'If you want me and Dustin can take the mythril to Cid and he can get started'. Looking at the others, namely Ignis and Gladiolus, who nodded, the prince turned to the girl and handed it to her. 'Sure, tell him thanks for this', he said.
With a nod and a quick hug to the prince and another to Riku that went on a little longer than Gladiolus would have liked, she headed off with Dustin back to Cape Caem. 'Let's go to the hotel then and check on Aqua, then call it a day', Noctis said, stretching out with a yawn, 'Been a long day…'. 'Yeah, sure', Gladiolus said with an eye roll, 'Guess you could go for a nap…'. 'After something to eat, I believe we've earned delicacy', Ignis reminded.
'Wa-hoo! Iggy's cooking!', Prompto cheered with glee. 'With help from Prompto and me?', Sora asked. 'Very generous of you, Sora', Ignis replied with a smug look as Prompto looked disheartened. 'Aww why me?', Prompto whined as they all walked to the hotel. As the group makes some banter to one another, Noctis and Prompto asking Gladiolus about his scars while Ignis informs Riku what has transpired.
All the while Kairi followed in the back of the party, eyes fixed on Sora's back as he made playful banter with Donald and Goofy. Where she should have felt relief to see Gladiolus and Riku were back, joy that their journey to Altissia was about to commence sooner than later, those feelings were replaced with inadequacy and guilt. Looking at Sora, still smiling at his two longest companions, a pain tugged on her heart as memories of what's happened to him sparked in her mind.
Clutching her necklace, brushing her thumb across the smooth stone to calm her nerves, thoughts thundering in her mind. "Have I caused him that much pain?", she asked herself, "Just how much hurt did I cause him these past years?".
Being used to hurt him by their enemies, the lengths he went to save her, all because of her. The Master's words lingered on her thoughts, the battle ahead of them scared her more than ever now. Looking down to keep her eyes hidden from the others, she felt them growing watery and a tightness in her throat. His death replaying repeatedly in her mind, a constant reminder of what the price was for her to see another day.
Just how much is Sora willing to do to keep her safe? That alone was enough for her to train as a wielder of the keyblade, yet despite her progress, she felt as if the gap between her and the others hadn't gotten any smaller. As her doubts grew more and more, and the costs Sora paid before, she truly started to think maybe…she didn't deserve to fight with him anymore. Maybe those little voices in her head telling her she wasn't ready or good enough were telling the truth.
'Kairi?'.
Quickly looking up she saw Noctis looking at her worriedly. 'You alright?', he asked, 'You've been pretty quiet for a while there'. Looking up she sees they had arrived at the hotel with everyone else already inside, her and Noctis the only ones being outside. Kairi gave the prince a nod and a small smile. 'Yeah, sorry. Just, thinking that's all', she promised. Noctis raised a brow and placed a hand on his hip. 'You sure? You weren't up that long since we got out of the ruins', he said, reminding her.
Kairi shrugged. 'Guess I'm just a little off, you know? Still waking up', she assured. Noctis gave her a sigh with a smile. 'I know that feeling', he concurred, gesturing the hotel for her. She entered with him, forcing those feelings back into the darkness. "I can't wait to see Aqua again, hope she's gotten better", she thought to herself, hoping her master was back to that wonderous master they all knew and loved.
After the rooms were paid for, they headed for the room where Gladiolus and Aqua were originally sharing before he was off being the hero. The shield knocked on the door. 'Hey Blue, we've got visitors!', he called out, 'You decent?'.
'Yes, come in!'.
They all entered the room; all the while Gladiolus was smirking away. They all stared in awe when they saw Aqua.
No longer the old gear that she arrived at this world in, she now wears a black turtle neck with two silver straps around her chest crisscrossing with her emblem proudly strapped on them together. On her left arm was armor reminiscent of her old armor, grey and black that entirely covered from shoulder to wrist in steel with the elbow having three curved arcs on them, grey and silver fingerless glove with the emblem printed on the knuckle.
Her right arm was only half-covered with armor to her elbow, except her armor only covered the surface of her arm and there is a single strap around her bicep, on her shoulder was the same yellow gemstone of her old armor while her hand had the same glove. Around her waist was her dark crystal blue cloth as opposed to the lighter blue with two silver straps around her hips mimicking the straps over her chest.
She wears dark leggings that covered her legs with a dark blue pair of shorts. Her boots were black with armor attached. Like her old ones but where the bladed tips were prong like there were smaller and pointing upwards.
Shyly smiling at her friends, she opened her arms to show off her new gear. 'Ta-da?', she said shyly. The two boys of the royal retinue were gobsmacked by the woman, while Riku, Donald, and Goofy looked pleased by her, Ignis himself smiling at her. Sora and Kairi were blown away by this. 'You look fantastic!', Kairi praised, clapping her hands together. 'Yeah! Like a new you!', Sora agreed. 'You look amazing, Aqua', Ignis hummed.
The two gobs smacked boys nodded dumbly as Riku and the other worlders gave her thumbs up of approval. 'Told you', Gladiolus remarked, smugly. Rolling her eyes in response, she smiled back at everyone as her friends approached. 'So, did you…?', Kairi started before faltering, recalling the sensitivity of the topic at hand. Aqua just extended her left arm and summoned Master's Defender, in all its pristine glory. 'Yes, I managed to have this finally repaired', she said. 'And not only that'.
Extending her right arm, she summoned Brightcrest, shocking all seven of the team, even Riku and Ignis looked astounded. 'Whoa! Two keyblades!', Sora said, obvious admiration in his tone. Aqua nodded, dismissing them and clapping her hands. 'Yes, I manage to restore my keyblade, and fix master's', she said, her voice was devoid of that defeated tone and replaced with joy.
'That's wonderful!', Kairi said, hugging her, 'It's so good to have you guys back!'. Hugging her apprentice equally in strength, Aqua's smile turned softer and more refined as she gently petted Kairi. 'What exactly happened to you in that place?', Riku asked, 'And where'd you get the new clothes?'. Aqua relinquished her hugs on Kairi and turned to the others. 'Well, after we completed the trials, we…were stranded', she started, before mock glaring at the shield. 'Because SOMEONE lost the chocobo whistle'.
Gladiolus awkwardly scratched his neck as all eyes fell on to him. 'In my defense, I was somewhat busy dealing with the guy who could kick my ass fifteen different ways from Saturday…', he said lamely. 'Which brings us to the situation of having no transport, my clothes were ruined from my trial, no ways to contact any of you, etcetera', Aqua said, sitting on the bed while some got comfortable as Ignis and his two helpers readied dinner. 'Then how did you guys get from over there to here?', Donald asked.
'That's…where it got weirder…', Gladiolus said as they started to regale the team their story…
*After telling the Trials*
'What in the worlds?', Aqua asked, looking at the miniature carriage with the shield. 'This is new…,' Gladiolus said.
Aqua warily touched the carriage, feeling the smooth yet tough surface. It reminded her of a pumpkin except it was white-ish silvery. A strange yet harmless magic was resonating from it, something familiar. As she touched it, Gladiolus could see tiny flecks of blue lights shinning around them, twinkling like stars. The lights all began to dive into the carriage, which Gladiolus grabbed Aqua's arm and yanked her away from it as the light began to glow so bright it caused them to turn away from it.
'I'm getting sick of light blinding us!', Gladiolus growled. 'You and me both', Aqua said, arms raised to block it. When the light fades, a gentle voice spoke: 'Hello my dear'. When they lowered their arms, in the place of the carriage and stump was a rotund, elderly woman with grey hair, pale skin. Dressed in a lavender cloak with a hood and a pink interior. She also wears a pink bow just under her neck and has a pleasant smile on her face.
'It's wonderful to see you again, Aqua', she greeted kindly. Aqua's face lit up upon recognition, relaxing her posture. 'Fairy Godmother, what are you doing here?', she asked, friendly and warm. Gladiolus looked between the two on utter bafflement, almost trying to convince himself he wasn't in some dream. A fairy godmother. That sounded like a term for a fairy tale…
'I've been traveling my dear, with Cinderella having her happy end I'm just enjoying my time, exploring worlds. That was until old Merlin, the sweetheart, had informed me of you and your friends had gone missing', she explained. 'The two of us had been searching for you two, but when I arrived at Eos my magic needed some rest, as you could see'.
The two looked to see a more confused Gladiolus looking ready to pass out from all this, a hand placed on his forehead. 'Oh my, and who is this dear?', Fairy Godmother asked, looking at the shield with curiosity and gentleness. 'He's a friend of mine, he and his prince have been helping us adapt to this world', Aqua explained. Aqua then gestured to Gladiolus. 'This is Gladiolus, and Gladio, this is Fairy Godmother'.
'Uh…yeah…nice to meet…you', he said. Fairy Godmother giggled lightly before turning to Aqua with a frown. 'My dear, whatever happened to you? You almost remind me of Cinderella before the Ball', she said, looking worriedly at her ruined clothes. Aqua looked at herself before shyly giggling. 'Sorry I'm not very presentable now, I uh, a fight took a lot out of me', she explained lamely. The old woman placed both hands on her hips, like a grandmother lecturing her granddaughter.
'A-Anyway', Aqua said, clearing her throat and hoping to change that stern disappointed grandma look to something else less…intimidating. 'If you can tell his majesty we're on a world called "Eos", and we're currently helping them stop the Organization', she explained. 'Of course, dear', Fairy Godmother said with a gentle nod, 'I am sorry I can't teleport you and the others back home so soon'.
Gladiolus suddenly felt a surge of guilt from this old woman…and he did not like it.
Aqua, however, smiled kindly. 'It wouldn't have mattered, we wouldn't be leaving here until our friends are safe', she said, looking at the shield. He nodded in gratitude with a smirk. 'But if it's possible, could you teleport us to a place called "Lestallum"? We're hoping to meet up with Sora and the others there', Aqua asked hopefully. 'Yeah, we'd be grateful if you could do that', Gladiolus added, 'We're, heh, kinda stranded here'.
'Of dear, but I will not send you on your in rags', she said sternly yet motherly at once, wagging her finger. Aqua frowned in response as the blue head looked at her admittedly rag worthy gear, though she was positive she could fix the cloth herself in time. 'I…sure I can pick something up in the town…', she said with some hesitation. 'Nonsense dearie, I can give you something before you venture on', promised the old woman.
'Oh, you mean something like Sora and Kairi's?', Gladiolus asked, remembering their conversation. The old woman nodded warmly. 'Yes dear, just a little more traditional', she said with a touch of mystery. Aqua felt a little apprehensive about that but she followed the gesture of the old woman and stood a few feet away from her and Gladiolus. 'Now then…wait a moment…where did I put my wand?', she said to herself, checking her sleeves and even her hood, which made the blue-haired master giggle lightly. 'Oh, that's right. I put it away', she said with a giggle.
The next thing they saw was her dragging her thumb and finger pinched together down. Along the trail was a long wand that she held. Gladiolus mouthed "whoa" while Aqua stared in quiet awe. 'Now then dear, are you ready?', she asked. 'Yes, Fairy Godmother'. With a wave of her wand, tiny sparkles of light danced around it and then she uttered the ever-famous words: 'Bibbidi bobbidi boo!'.
Magic swirls around Aqua she glowed with light, arms out open as she felt the change while Gladiolus, realizing the woman was changing before him, quickly averted his eyes. When the spell was done, Aqua was now donning her new clothes, admiring them with wide eyes and smiles, turning her body to see what the woman had done for her. 'There you go my dear, a magical set of clothes fit for a master', she praised.
Aqua smiled warmly at the godmother and bowed. 'Thank you so much, Fairy Godmother', she said. Then she looked to her left and spotted a large dark blue suitcase beside her. 'I understand those clothes carry significance to you dear, so I thought you could repair them when you return home', the godmother said warmly. Nodding once more, Aqua picked up her case as Gladiolus joined her, patting her armored shoulder. 'You look great', he praised.
This brought a small hue of red to her cheeks as Aqua ducked her head shyly yet smiling at the words. Fairy Godmother took note of this exchange, smiling warmly when she sensed the words carried more significance than just a kind compliment. 'Shall I commence?', she asked, deciding to spare Aqua the embarrassment. The two warriors nodded at her and she waved her wand, but not before saying: 'I shall contact his majesty immediately, be safe dears!'.
'Bibbidi bobbidi boo!'.
The white swirls wrapped around the two before the light and they disappeared into the night. With her work done, the old woman merely sighed before fading away into light to report this incident to the king…
*Present time*
'After we were transported here, we opted to wait for you all to return', Aqua explained, 'I got the hotel for us and Gladio went to the power plant after Holly gave out the warning about daemons'.
As the party ate and listened to their stories there were questions asked and some answered, but now with new information on their situation. 'Do you think the King has a way to collect us?', Goofy asked, finishing up his meal. 'If it involves a ship, I hope they figured out what's exactly causing them to go nuts', Riku commented, 'Unless they wanna tag along with us'.
'I think we've enough party members!', Prompto said with a laugh, 'Anymore and we're gonna have to get another car!'.
There was a collective chuckle amongst the team as Sora and Ignis collected the dishes for Donald and Goofy to wash. 'Well now that we have everyone again and it won't take much longer for Cid to get the yacht, we're on our way to Altissia!', the blonde cheered. 'Not yet Prompto…', Ignis corrected as he opened his notebook. 'We've still three more royal arms to collect'. 'Oh yeah, we've still got that one that was stolen right?', Sora asked as he sat back down on a chair.
'Correct, along with two others we've yet discover', Ignis said, pushing up his glasses. Prompto let out a groan as Noctis huffed. 'Aww man…', Prompto groaned. 'Come on, better to get Noct all powered up and ready for the empire', Riku chuckled, 'Sides, there's still plenty to see before we head to the city of water'.
'Plenty of opportunities for photos too', Aqua encouraged. Prompto grinned at this, his dismays forgotten within seconds. 'That's great…but not today', Noctis yawned. 'As future king, I order this to be our day off'. 'Abuse of power!', Prompto teased, earning giggles from the girls. 'But not unwarranted', Ignis said, clapping his hands. 'After everything we have all been through, a reprieve is certainly in order'.
'Great! I have consent from Ignis, therefore all further arguments are dismissed and/or ignored!', Noctis announced, hopping off the chair and making a bee-line to his room, telling everyone he is not to be disturbed unless its either for dinner or Umbra making a visit. Once he was out of the room, everyone else had already decided what their plans were. 'If you guys need us, me and Donald are gonna go look around the town', Goofy said as he and Donald headed out of the room.
'Splendid, I'll head for the marketplace and see what they have in stock, I've been meaning to see if they have that red spice', Ignis said. 'Mind if I tag along? Wanna see what the market's got to offer', Riku asked as the two walked off. 'Me too!', Prompto said, chasing them.
Aqua smiled at the three left, she had already decided she would be doing some training outside the town and perhaps even see what other forms her keyblade could do. That was until Gladiolus grabbed her shoulder with a grin. Wordlessly he led the two of them out, bidding Sora and Kairi a "See you guys later". Which just left the two of them alone in the room, to that Sora grinned at Kairi and said: 'Well, just the two of us! What do you wanna do?'.
'I…I think I might just head to our room and relax…', Kairi said, slowly and shyly as she got off the bed. Blinking, Sora watched her go before he stood up. 'Are you ok?', he asked as her hand grabbed the doorknob. She stilled for a moment, further worrying Sora as the silence between them felt unnatural, almost foreign to him. '…Kairi? What's wrong?', he asked, hesitatingly approaching her. When he got close enough to place his hand on her shoulder, she turned to him with dimmed eyes. Without a word she opened the door and took him by his hand and led him out to their room.
Inside their sanctuary, Kairi released her grip on Sora and turned to him. 'Kai? What's going on?', he persisted. 'Off', was all she said. Sora blinked in confusion, then blinked again before opening his mouth to likely ask what she was asking of him but then she gestured his jacket and t-shirt. 'Off, everything on the top', she requested. Blushing softly, but trusting her, Sora removed his t-shirt and jacket. With nothing but his chain, he stood before her bare-chested.
Kairi gently placed a hand on his heart, a frown etched its way onto her beautiful face. 'I feel magic…', she said, looking at him. This caused Sora to take a face that was on alert and slight panic, as he opened his mouth but once again Kairi cut him off. 'No, please. Whatever it is, I want you to dispel it', she said. 'Kairi…', he started but one look in her eyes told him any attempts to argue with her would be futile.
With reluctance, Sora snapped his fingers and a mirage-like veil shined around his form before ultimately disappearing and revealing what he was hiding. Kairi couldn't even hold back that gasp when she saw the purpose of that spell.
Adorned Sora's body were several jagged and lines of silvery scars that marked him, his chest, sides, shoulders, and arms. Those weren't what truly tore into her heart though as she had no doubt her body was home to many scars of her own, their lifestyle was guaranteed to leave its marks on them. No, what truly struck her was the scar that would forever remind her of the day she had lost him.
A horrible gnash of a scar was upon his chest, slightly faded yet it had the mark of a keyblade's teeth. It was deep like Gladiolus' scar on his chest but deeper and more severe. Seeing it face to face, a horrible mark that will forever remind her that it was there because of her. Because of her, for all, she knew all those scars might have been him trying to save her. It wasn't fair, not him. He didn't deserve to have those horrible scars, lethal or otherwise because of her, he shouldn't have had to die because of her.
She…didn't deserve him.
As those thoughts weighed on her mind her heart broke as tears ran down her cheeks. 'Kairi!', Sora said, quickly grabbing her shoulders. 'What's wrong!? W-Why are you crying?', he pleaded for an answer. Kairi could hold her sobs back and finally collapsed into him, crying into his arms as they fell to the floor on their knees, the girl buried into him as her tears ran down. Knowing she couldn't respond to him the boy gently stroked her back soothingly while holding her to him.
He kept hearing her mumble something, but it was incoherent due to her sobs and being so close to him. Sora rested his chin on top of her forehead, letting her cry out whatever this feeling was doing to her.
After a few minutes, he hears her words at least with clarity. 'I'm sorry…I'm so sorry', she whimpered. Sora broke their hug apart to look at her, puffy red eyes with tear stains on her cheeks. 'Sorry? For what?', he asked, desperately racking his brain for whatever she could have possibly done to him, yet he couldn't recall anything. Gently, she pressed her hand on his chest where the scar is, her answer to his question.
Sora's own eyes dimmed, remembering that day where he had died. An experience he'd never be able to describe or want to feel again, even to this day he still had nightmares of it. Yet looking at the girl in his arms, he gave her the same worried looks. 'W-What about this?', he asked, despite a part of his heart telling him he knew why she was crying. 'That…that was because of me…', she said as tears ran down, 'If it wasn't for me…you'd never would have…would have…'.
She couldn't even get the last piece of that sentence out before her sobs took over her voice, having the image of him stabbing himself with that cruel keyblade. Sora looked at his mark and placed his hand over hers, gently pressing on it. 'Kairi…that, was a long time ago…', he said but she shook her head. 'Sora, how can you be…how can you act like its not a big deal?', she asked. 'Because…because to me…it means how much *you* mean to me', he said.
Shaking her head, she looked at him. 'I'm not worth losing your heart like that! If you had just left me like that…', but before she could continue, Sora grabbed her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes, intensely. 'Then it wouldn't be worth it!', he said. 'Do you think I wasn't scared? I knew what I was going to do would be the last thing I'll ever do! I was terrified, but do you know what scared me more than that!?'. Kairi shook her head, lips quivering.
His intense gaze softened as his eyes went watery and tears of his own began to shed. 'Living in a world…without you', he said finally. 'Seeing you like that, forever sleeping…never living your life, heck…e-even thinking of moving on without you…it scared me more than anything else…'.
Shaking his head, he gave her a watery smile. 'That's why I did it…because you mean that much to me…more than anything else in the world…'.
'Because…I love you'.
'W-W-What did you say?', she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
'I love you…', Sora affirmed. 'I love you so much I…'.
Kairi tackled him into the tightest hug she had ever given him, crying into him again but not with sadness. With complete and utter joy in her cries, cuddling him as he held her tightly. When they finally calmed down and wiped their tears away, they stood up still locked together in an embrace. Gesturing his scar, he said: 'Look at this not with guilt or remorse, but as a symbol of how important you are to me, ok?'.
Kairi nodded, before kissing it. Placing a hand on his cheeks, she relished in this embrace and cherished this boy being hers. 'Still wanna go to bed early?', he asked, gesturing the sun was starting to set. 'Nah…maybe we could just watch a few movies on the tv?', Kairi suggested, pointing at the device. 'Sounds good to me', he concurred. Breaking their embrace for Sora to pick up the remote and switch on the movie channel, he looked to see Kairi picking up his jacket and t-shirt.
Thinking she was going to hand them over, he offered his hand to receive them…only for her to throw them in the bathroom and closed the door. 'Uhh…Kairi?', he asked slowly when she turned around to him with an innocent expression on her face. 'Yes?', she said sweetly. 'Why did you throw my stuff in the bathroom?', he asked.
'What stuff?', she asked, tilting her head. 'My jacket and t-shirt?', he said, not sure if she was just messing with him or deliberately acting ignorant of her random disregard for his clothes. Kairi still had her innocent expression on her face before she walked over to him and pushed him onto his back. Laying beside him and snuggling into his bare chest, she sighed contently as the film of the day played.
'…You're not gonna let me change back into them for the rest of the night, are you?', he asked exasperatedly.
'Nope', Kairi confessed, smiling. 'Now shush and let me and enjoy this~'.
Rolling his eyes, he wrapped his arms around her and held her was the film played.
*Bar*
Aqua couldn't believe she was doing this…
As the day turned to night, Gladiolus for the most part just had the two of them walk around the town until six pm rolled by and then he took them to a bar. A bar of all places.
Aqua already felt uncomfortable being in a place like this the moment she had sat down at a table and was welcomed by the smells of the place. Not unpleasant per se like those seedy bars master had warned her about in the past for sure, she was sickened by the horrible stink of smoke or cheap booze that would churn her stomach.
Instead, the place seemed rather well established and even welcoming, a slow jazz song played on the radios with a few patrons coming and going, some more or less already indulged in the fine drinks this place had to offer it seemed. Aqua mostly waited for the man to come back with their drinks at his insistence as she plucked away the nachos the place offered. Not hungry enough for a meal after Ignis' cooking, but a snack was welcomed.
'Miss me?', Gladiolus said, sitting down and placing both their drinks on the table with a soft "clink" from them. Aqua already frowned at the bottles before them, the size alone made her uneasy. 'Gladio…', she warned when he popped one open and poured a glass for her and himself. 'Easy Blue, its nothing like whiskey or scotch', he promised. 'Doesn't change that its alcohol…', she sighed as he slid one over to her.
The liquid was golden with foam at the top, and she could smell something akin to cider. It wasn't unpleasant, rather invitingly delicious but she also knew the risks of such a drink. 'A Lestallum favorite, made from the farms around the region and with little bit of wheat', he explained. 'Have you had any experience with this?', she asked with a raised brow. 'Only after we got here the first time', he said.
'Can I ask why you decided to drag me out here?', she asked, deciding to get to the point. Gladiolus smirked at her and gestured her clothes. 'Think of it as a celebration between us. You got new clothes and a keyblade, I got the Blademaster's sword and more power', he said, grinning. 'So why not celebrate our victories over a nice drink?'.
Although she couldn't exactly fault that logic since truthfully, he is right They had achieved far more than they had hoped for, not only regaining their strength and confidence but more. Plus, she was rather smitten by her new gear too and felt like a master in this. Still, looking at the drink in front of her made her feel uneasy, as this was her first-time tasting alcohol. Yet here she was, drinking with Gladiolus like they were two old friends.
Deciding since he did pay, she might as well experience this with someone she trusted. Taking her glass, she gently tapped his with hers. Gladiolus drank his while Aqua was slower, lifting the heavy drink to her lips. The moment she tasted the cider-like drink she thought she'd get sick yet strangely she relished how tasty it was. She felt the bubbles pop around her mouth and dance on her tongue, electing a wonderous taste for her taste buds.
Slowly she lifted the glass up to consume it, gulping it until she sub-consciously drank the whole thing. Blinking when she looked at her empty glass, she blushed. 'Oops…', she giggled shyly, surprised by the taste being so delicious. The shield raised a brow at her before chuckling and opening the other one. 'Guess we found your first beer', he chuckled. 'Guess so', she concurred, taking a refill.
After taking one gulp of her second glass, the woman felt a warmth within her stomach as a sense of serenity washed over her, her nerves relaxed and feeling more at peace. 'This…is nice', she mused quietly. 'I'm telling ya, the best way to clear your head is to kick back and grab a cold one', Gladiolus remarked with a grin of his own. 'Clearing your mind? Isn't there an old saying that goes: "A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts"?', she asked.
'Depends on what's on that man's mind', Gladiolus said with a smile. Smiling in agreement and just enjoying herself, Aqua finished her as Gladiolus downed his. Looking at the bottle after, Aqua looked at it with curiosity and hummed in response. 'Maybe I could bring some of this home…', she said to herself. Then she looked to Gladiolus. 'What about you? What kind of drinks do you enjoy?', she inquired.
'Oh ho, slow down there Blue, mine's pretty heavy stuff', he said. She, however, raised a brow at this, almost like he was bragging about the drink. 'Oh really? Is it that good?', she asked. 'Lucian brew, the best drink I could ask for', Gladiolus shrugged. Aqua smiled in response and nodded. 'Well, let's share a drink then', she offered. Before the shield could stop her, she got up and ordered two bottles of the substance for them.
Minutes later, she brought them over and handed one to him and poured herself a glass. 'Whoa Blue, you're not gonna-
His words ceased when Aqua took a tasting sip of her glass and then downed the whole thing in seconds. With a satisfying gasp, she placed her glass down and grinned. 'Whoa…you're right, …it was delicious!', she said. Gladiolus could only look at her with awe, whistling lowly at her. Then he smirked and took his glass and downed it. 'Well…may as while enjoy it while we can, tomorrow we're back to royal arm hunting', he said, feeling warm himself.
Aqua poured them both a glass each and held hers up high. 'To finding the royal arms, and keeping our friends safe', she said. 'To keeping his royal brat's ass safe and kicking everyone else's ass on the way', Gladiolus grunted. They clinked their drinks and downed them together.
And then they downed their third glasses…and then their fourth…and their fifth…and so on…
*Night*
'PFFT! Nononono…no way!', Aqua giggled profusely as she and Gladiolus struggled to walk in a straight line to their room. 'Y-Y-You…*giggle* you did not!', she slurred, face pink and looking like she was in the middle of bursting into a fit of giggles like a schoolgirl keeping a secret. The shield was already plastered, for the most part, grinning like an absolute idiot while his face was flushed red.
'Yeah, I fricking…freaking… f-ing did! I kicked that ass behemoth's!', he slurred, his sentences mixed up and completely non-sensible. As they tried clumsily to make their way to their room after forgetting which floor they were on and after Aqua managed to count back from three hundred to two hundred and ninety-nine, she recalled (miraculously) they were on the second floor.
'You did not!', said Aqua as she slumped against the door clumsily, trying to reach for the keys to the room. 'D-Did so! Ya weren't there!', he argued back, laying against the wall. 'Wow…', he sighed, 'Wall feels so slick and cool to sleep…'.
'Gladio you…doofus…walls aren't beds!', Aqua argued, fumbling the keys to open the door. 'They're…they're um, …err…walls! Yes, walls!'. Aqua opened the door and tumbled through the entrance, landing on her side while still giggling profusely at something. 'Gladio! The door's opened!', she said while rolling onto her back. 'My house key worked!'.
'W-Why didn't, *snicker* you use your key-sword?', he asked, staggering into the bedroom somehow not stepping on Aqua. 'Because! *giggling* It's too big! Too big for the door's keyholes!', she laughed, as if she just told the funniest joke in the world. Gladiolus must have taken the joke to another place because he roared with laughter, nearly collapsing on the table. Luckily Aqua accidentally kicked the door shut so the other occupants were luckily spared of their laughter.
As their laughter died down, Gladiolus managed to shake off some of his dizziness and looked at the still giggling woman on the floor, looking up at him with those beautiful blue eyes that were foggy with drunkenness yet still retaining some semblance of awareness. 'Aqua, you can't sleep on the floor', he lectured, wagging his finger for added effect.
'But Gladio~', she whined, 'It's so comfy!'.
Rolling his eyes, he helped the woman up to her feet, though he almost lost his balance when he suddenly hoisted her up to stand. He staggered backward as Aqua fell into him, his back against the wall near the bathroom. They froze for a moment and stared at each other, both flushed but whether that was from the alcohol or their closeness was up for debate. Staring down at the woman who was a foot shorter than him, her blue eyes were sparkling to him and her breathing was slow and soothing.
Gently he brushed her hair as Aqua placed her hands on his cheeks, brushing against his rough stubble. Slowly, they leaned in and connected their lips. A gentle moan escaped Aqua's lips as Gladiolus' hands pressed on her lower back, pressing her against him as the woman wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her taste was something he couldn't put into words other than she felt out of this world, while she explored his lips with her own, tasting him. Gladiolus' hand ran through her impressively soft blue locks, the woman pulling him closer to her as her tongue prodded against his lips.
'Gladio…', she whispered when they broke apart for oxygen, staring deep into his amber-colored eyes. 'Aqua…', he gasped…
Suddenly two loud knocks on the door broke them apart as Aqua pulled away from Gladiolus as if he was made of fire and slammed into the wall behind them with a gasp.
'WILL YOU TWO KEEP IT DOWN!? PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!'.
They couldn't exactly decipher who it was they disturbed, but when they didn't respond the angry voice muttered something they couldn't hear before they angrily left, leaving the two in silence. Neither had spoken a word to each other, both trying to put together what had just happened between them and yet having no clue to put it into words.
'Aqua, I…I'm sorry, I…I don't know…', he fumbled, not sure if what he was saying was him trying to apologize or his drunken state trying to figure out what he just did.
'I-its…lets just, go to bed…', she murmured.
Without a word Aqua immediately headed for her bed, they got a two-bedroom anyways and after removing her armor, boots, and gloves, she wordlessly threw the covers over herself and laid there in silence. Following her idea, the shield did the same and switched off the light.
Both eventually fell to the lure of sleep, but not before asking themselves just what they had done…
A/N: Again, one day it took me from scratch…oi vey…
So the teams reunited, some angst and fluff with a touch of drama, joys of it all!
Questions!
Q1: What did you think of Aqua's new outfit?
Q2: Who was that told them to shut up?
Q3: Which royal arm should we go do next?
Q4: Do you wanna see Luna in the next chapter?
The Fairy Godmother appearing was suggested by Guest Isa, massive thanks for the support and recommendations to fix the mistakes!
Random question: If you were going on an adventure in the KH worlds, who would be your four companions and why?
As always everyone, thanks for reading, stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!
