AN: What I desperately needed most in this series, besides Roxas and Xion being safe and okay, was these three being happy. KH3 delivered, and I decided to expand on that a little. Enjoy!
For a few minutes, Terra wasn't even sure how to react.
None of it felt real. None of it felt like it could possibly be real. The last sensations he'd lived through, he'd felt, were the pain of watching Master Eraqus die, knowing it was his fault, of failing to best Xehanort and letting the dust blow into him as he lost all control. Now here he was, in the same place, but whole.
They were together.
This time he was with Aqua and Ven and it had been twelve years- twelve years since he'd been able to look at their faces and tell them he was sorry for everything and that he loved them- twelve years of not knowing if this nightmare would never end.
But it did. Miraculously, unbelievably, it did. And it was because of them.
Terra choked out a sob, smiling at them through tears he wouldn't bother hiding. They were here. They were real.
He started in on Aqua first, grabbing her arms as if to assure himself she were there. She flinched, and it stung in the back of his mind, but she shook her head and smiled at him and he hadn't hurt her.
Hands cradled her head gently as Terra rested his forehead on Aqua's, eyes closed and tears dripping down to mingle together in the dirt. "Aqua," he said, and it was all he needed to.
Maybe he would've stayed there for a year, if you'd let him, if he hadn't heard a sniffle from a few feet away and opened his eyes to look at Ven, who was trying not to cry too hard but not doing so well.
"And you," he said, looking at Ven, so much like a little brother to him, "come here." And Ven moves forward to wrap his arms around Terra, who held him. "I'm so sorry for what I put you through. It was too much." Ven pulled back to look at him sadly, and Terra glanced at Aqua, tears still falling down her face. "Both of you, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I let you down."
"Terra," Aqua started, taking the hand Terra wasn't holding around Ven. "It's okay. We forgive you." She wrapped her other arm around the younger boy, too, smiling at him.
"Yeah, you saved us, Terra," Ven said, and Terra bit on his lip to try not to cry too much. This was a big, important battle after all, and soon they'd need to get up and join the others- the concept of which was still a little foggy to him.
But now, Aqua's hand in his and her and Ven smiling at each other, then at him, pulling him closer for another hug-
Now they had a few minutes together, and Terra was going to cherish them.