Slowly, day by day, week by week, they made their progress. It went slow, but Aqua preferred it that way. It was better than working hard and fast and having to go back and redo everything.

"Hey, Aqua?" Ventus asked as he sent a paint roller higher up to help cover the blank white of the ceiling with misty blue.

"Yeah, Ven?" Aqua replied. She winced at a droplet of paint splattering onto her shortly after.

Ventus stopped for a moment, careful not to lose his balance on his ladder "Me and Terra were thinking..."

Aqua smiled slyly "How dangerous."

Ventus rolled his eyes, then continued "This really is a little too much work for just us three."

Aqua was quiet as she lowered her paint roller. She had specifically set out with just her, Terra, and Ventus doing this for a reason. She didn't want any detail wrong, any bit of stone or wood tainted by hands who knew nothing of the significance of this place. She ran her hand along a dried bit of paint, memories stirring within her. No, this home would only be touched and restored by their hands-

"I know, I know," Ven held his hands up "You want this to be personal, special, untouched by anyone but us." He carefully leaned over and held her shoulder "But the thing is, we can't do all this by ourselves." When Aqua turned her head, Ventus sighed "Come on, we've been working for months now and we're not even close to halfway."

Aqua stubbornly resumed her work "The master always said slower was better-"

"Specifically he said that 'slow and steady wins the race', Aqua." Terra called from below. He stood up from installing the recently finished doors "But he ALSO said that we should never undertake a project we can't handle."

"We can handle this, Terra." Aqua snapped at him.

Terra thought a moment. He then sighed "Aqua, we're working ourselves to death here."

"Well at least we'll die together in our home." she quipped with tears building up.

Terra and Ventus exchanged a look. They always hated seeing a rare burst of tears from each other, but Aqua seemed like a flat out KO punch every time. Ventus resumed his painting, muttering "Maybe another day."

Terra, meanwhile, spoke up "Aqua, you know that none of us get a proper sleep. It's impossible to work like this." Aqua continued her painting, trying to ignore Terra as he continued "Ven still has nightmares, you're tossing and turning and just will not go to sleep, and you know that's the same with me. No one here has had a proper rest in ages. It's dangerous working like this."

Aqua suddenly lurched. She then began lowering herself, deciding that the topic would go better if she didn't fall again. But Kingdom Hearts... Terra was right, none of them could sleep properly anymore.

Aqua had conceded to the past ten years of her life and was now taking in sleep in short hour bursts. One hour asleep, another awake, another asleep... continuing endlessly until morning. She often spent the hour awake slipping into Terra and Ventus's bedrooms, making sure they were well. Or at least... REAL.

Ventus would still wake in the middle of the night screeching for Terra and Aqua. Sometimes he wouldn't go to sleep at all. Either to avoid the nightmares or too painfully reminded of a decade wasted because of sleep. If he did sleep, he moaned and sobbed. Sometimes he woke without a scream, but his eyes were dull and lifeless, and he acted vacant. Aqua would snap her fingers, shake him, try anything to make his gaze something more than a blue void.

Terra was arguably the worst. He violently tossed and turned, as if his sheets were strangling him. Whenever he woke from a dream, he was either incredibly violent, or incredibly lost. Aqua painfully recalled a night when he woke up after she slipped in to check on him, and all he could do was stare at her like he'd never seen her before, then look around at his room and himself like he was in an entirely different body for painful second after painful second.

Aqua tripped on a rung and landed badly on her foot, but the pain was nothing close to how she had to hear Terra begging her for an identity.

"Hey now, easy, easy..." Terra gently scooped her up in his arms "Easy... I'm here." Aqua leaned into him, and wrapped her arms around him in desperate need for his solidity. She needed a rock in this ocean of her heart. She needed it BADLY. She felt his hand running through her hair "You know what, forget I brought it up." He sounded so guilty.

Ventus looked down at them, frowning. He began lowering himself. "I told you not to use that argument, Terra." he hissed in annoyance. He knew this would happen! He knew it! But did Terra listen? No, Terra had to insist! "Stubborn little..." He stopped himself. What was he thinking? He instantly felt guilt in his heart. What was he doing thinking so badly about his friend?

He slid the rest of the way down and joined Terra and Aqua's hug. Maybe he needed that rock, too. Terra was the first to back off "But I am serious about how we need to lessen the load between the three of us."

There was a knock, and Terra grinned. Ventus and Aqua stared at him until he explained "Which is why regardless of either of your input I invited help!"

"TERRA!" Aqua yelled as he giddily slid down a half-finished banister to the door. Ventus only whooped in delight. He KNEW he'd felt a certain someone (or three) at the door.

Terra pushed open the doors "Hey! Glad you made it!" There was echoing yells of surprise and a loud BOOM as one of the doors fell over, followed by Terra's rampant apologizing "Sorry! I-I just- Aqua needed some help and I kinda forgot!"

Shortly after there was a familiar laugh "Well, hey, no one got hurt, right?"

Ventus smiled wide "SORA!" He rushed over to the balcony- Aqua following after then leaving to descend to greet them as Mistress of the place - to see the boy standing there in his usual get up- except his shorts were hiked up to above his knees and he had some tools in his hands.

Sora smiled "Heya Ven! How's it goin'?"

He walked in, followed by Kairi in lavender shorts and a white T-shirt "Wow! Sora you're right this place is amazing!"

Riku walked in- apparently his hair had grown back enough to be tied back in a small ponytail. His jeans and plain gray shirt seemed to be a few sizes too big, which had oddly become his usual style that made him look smaller "Impressive."

Roxas carried in armfuls of... artistic supplies, oddly enough "Better than the place it used to be."

Namine picked up some of the things Roxas had dropped "I bet I could get some really nice sketches!"

Xion- dressed completely in black and navy -twirled in the entryway "Wow! Roxas this place is as big as The Castle That Never Was!"

Lea followed after her with a sluggish pace and a yawn. He idly tugged at his checkered ascot with a small smile "Xion, castles tend to be that way."

Isa playfully smacked his shoulder "Come on, you know she hasn't gotten around that much."

Lea shrugged "Just sayin'. Besides she doesn't get around much because she insists on staying weeks in the same world so she can 'See everything she can see'."

Most surprising of all was Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, and Yen Sid all coming in wearing plain work clothes.

Goofy waved up at Ventus, smiling "Ready to work!"

Ventus, meanwhile, couldn't stop snorting at the sight of Yen Sid wearing overalls and a plain shirt. He regretted that when the old sorcerer zapped him with a small thunderbolt.

Soon the whole group was gathered at the beginning of the stairs, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus all looking at their small army of workers from a quarter way up them.

Sora ascended the stairs, stopped before Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, bowed to them, then turned to the crowd "Okay then!" he smiled at all the volunteers that had showed up "Who's ready to work?" cheers, but he calmly raised his hand and they quieted "But a few things first. First off, treat this place respectfully!" He held his hand out to Terra, Aqua, and Ven "This was their home! This was where they were raised!"

"Not really... I only stayed here four years..." Ventus muttered sheepishly.

Sora grinned back at him "Well it doesn't matter how long you stay in a place if it welcomes you into its heart and you welcome it into yours. That's home, buddy." He then resumed his small speech, suddenly a little more somber "Not only that, but this was the home of GENERATIONS of Keyblade wielder after Keyblade wielder. This place is the legacy of Master after Master, the home of knowledge we've now lost to time and war. It's a memorial to old times and people we can't get back, but we can remember them."

He patted the stone with a wistful smile "This was the home of people who ensured the worlds remained safe long before we did, and I cannot stress its importance any more than that." He closed his eyes briefly, as if the world itself was talking to him. He always did that after the most recent clash of Light and Darkness. He then nodded and backed away to let Terra, Aqua, and Ventus take the spotlight "Anything the Mistress and Masters of the castle want to add?"

Aqua was crying, her hands over her mouth. She smiled wide at how much reverence Sora had shown her home, and was now completely swayed to letting them help on the restoration.

Sora titled his head with a cocky smile "What? Was it something I said?" His smile hinted that he knew that it was EVERYTHING he had said that was getting Aqua to be so emotional. He held out his hands for a hug, and Aqua wrapped herself around him with a gleeful sob.

Terra cleared his throat "Well, first off don't go doing anything on your own. Consult us before you start a project."

Ventus nodded "Make sure you follow our instructions exactly, and don't be afraid to ask a million questions to get it perfect."

Aqua backed off from Sora, and finished the briefing up "And do treat this like it was your home, give it the respect it deserves and more."

Ahhh I was just going to leave this story here but WAAHH SORA HAD TO BE AN ABSOLUTE CUTIE AND SUGGEST THIS ;U; (happy turkey day US people woot woot)