My heart's a battleground

9 MONTHS LATER

After months of staying at Yen Sid's tower, Nova missed Terra immensely. However, she knew from the constant communication between the wizard and King Mickey that trouble was brewing and that Terra was right in the thick of things. She thought back to the reason why she had come back to this tower in the first place.

FLASHBACK

"Nova, can I speak to you privately before you leave?" Yen Sid inquired, motioning behind him towards his office.

Nova glanced behind her at the wizard before nodding swiftly. She quickly followed Yen Sid through his door and shut it behind her.

"Well, I know you want to be on your way, I just needed to speak with you concerning a private matter before you left."

Nova nodded, willing herself not to show her nervousness to the man in front of her.

"I recently felt a disturbance in the light and darkness that left me feeling uneasy. When I consulted with the stars, I found out that there is someone disrupting the peace. This may seem like a cruel twist of fate, but you are involved and I need your help."

Nova's mouth opened in shock but she wasn't able to speak. Before she could, Yen Sid continued.

"The quick version is this; there is a threat going around to different time periods to change the future. One day in the near future, I'm going to need you to come back to my tower when you feel the birth of a new star."

Nova shook her head in confusion, "What do you mean, 'birth of a new star'?"

Yen Sid quickly touched her shoulder and smiled.

"When you feel it, you will know. This might be the only way to keep him from harming the new star."

With a quick shake of her head, Nova snapped her thoughts back to the present as Yen Sid strolled up beside her. Holding a tiny bundle in her arms, she wrapped the cloth tighter around it so as not to get cold.

"Are you sure about this, Nova?" Yen Sid questioned the young woman in front of him, unsure if this was the right choice.

"Yes, I have to take him someplace safe. Terra needs my help and I'm going to make sure I protect them both."

Yen Sid nodded. "Just remember what I told you and be careful. Terra may not be as you remember him. His destiny has changed course and he is different than before."

"I'll remember. Thank you for everything, Yen Sid."

Nova softly closed the door behind her and walked down the steps of the tower. When she opened the door at the bottom, she looked into the sky. The stars were shining extra brightly tonight, almost as if there was some secret the universe was trying to tell her. Clutching the bundle extra close to her chest, she lifted the star shard into the air.

"Star shard, grant me this wish. Please take me somewhere I can find a place for him to stay safe."

A bright white light softly whisked them away to an unknown world. With her eyes closed, Nova took in her surroundings by listening to the crashing of ocean waves against the beach. Smiling, she opened her eyes to see a beautiful sunrise off on the horizon. When she looked around she saw a couple sitting on a leaning tree and slowly made her way closer to them. They were so engrossed in the sunset that they didn't notice Nova until she cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Hello, my name is Novangeline."

The couple smiled at Nova and stood up to greet her when they noticed the bundle in her arms.

"I heard your wish and I know that you both want to have a child but are unable to do so. I've come to ask if you could take care of my son for me while I go save his father. I just want to be sure he will be in good hands since I'm not sure when I'll be back."

The young woman looked at the man to her left and they both nodded, their smiles reaching up to their shining eyes.

"He will be safe with us, we promise," the man before her ensured.

Nova nodded, her heart fluttering as she was about to give up her son for who knows how long.

"Just know there is an evil out there trying to manipulate time and it might be after him. Always keep a watchful eye on him," she warned, handing him over to the young woman.

Nova opened the blanket to look into the blue eyes of the baby as the woman held him, "I'll be back with your father as soon as I can little one. Until then, be good and know that I love you, my little Sora."

With that, she lifted the star shard once again and in a bright flash of light, she was gone. Sora was now left in the care of the young couple on the island four years in the past.

You show me how to see
That nothing is whole and nothing is broken

For what seemed like forever, Terra traversed the wide expansive space in-between worlds, pondering the recent happenings with Xehanort and his friends. Although it wasn't in the front of his mind, he never forgot about Nova's disappearance. As he continued along, he was suddenly welcomed by a warm and bright light that seemed to beckon him to come closer.

"This light… it's so warm."

In somewhat of a daze, Terra lowers his ship and lands on the dusty sands of the beach that is currently the witness of a spectacular sunset. His focus on the view was briefly broken when he noticed something floating in the water at his feet. When he picked up the star shaped fruit, he was reminded of the time Aqua gave all of them their wayfinders.

"Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit…"

Scanning the beach, he found the source of the fruit on top of an island separate from the mainland. Noticing the shed to his left, he quickly walked over to find the steps that led him where he wanted to go. With his mind filled with thoughts of his far-away friends, he clutched the wayfinder in his grip, almost welcoming the pain from the star tips piercing the palm of his hand. He slowly started to cross the wooden bridge and was about halfway across when two small boys started shouting and ran right past him.

"Giving up already? Come on, Sora."

Once they both passed Terra on the bridge, they continued onto the island and hopped up on the sideways tree to take a break after their race. Terra was about to turn back around to let them have their fun when he noticed a spectacular light shining from both of the boys.

"Light… Was I guided here to meet those boys?"

His gaze lingered on the brunette child a little longer as he felt a familiar energy radiate from him, but Terra was unable to place the origin. Shaking his head, Terra cleared his mind and traversed back the way he came, once again reaching the sandy beach he landed on moments before. As he gazed out into the vast ocean and took in the warm sunlight that heated his skin, he found himself lost in thought. Quickly shaking himself from his thoughts, he heard scuffling of tiny feet and turned to notice Riku, the small silver-haired child from earlier, walking behind him.

"Hey. Did you come here from the outside world?"

The question shook him completely from his thoughts and startled him how this young boy could be so observant.

"Huh? Why would you say that?"

As Riku answered, Terra heard how with each word he spoke, there was a level of maturity that he wouldn't have guessed a boy his age would have. When he mentioned how he wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone, Terra felt his faint smile fall from his lips.

"It must be hard being stuck in one place."

As Riku begrudgingly kicked the sand, he mentioned how he heard there was a kid who left before. When he walked to the shore, Terra thought he saw the child change into a grown man with silver hair matching his with a black outfit on. When he blinked a few times, the man changed to a different one with silver hair sporting a white vest. When he turned his blue green eyes on Terra, he tried blinking a few more times and when Riku spoke again, he was back to normal.

After talking with him a few more minutes, Terra realized that this child reminded him a lot of himself and his need to protect his friends. He strode the few steps between them and summoned his keyblade.

As he kneeled before Riku, he said, "In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, it's wielder you shall one day be."

Each word Terra spoke resonated with Riku and when he grabbed the blade, he wasn't sure what to expect, but when nothing happened he didn't have time to think on it.

"Riku! C'mon, hurry it up!"

Riku turned to his friend and waved while Terra put his keyblade away. As he looked at the young boy in the distance, he felt his heart constrict painfully in his chest. Gasping, Terra quickly grabbed Riku's attention.

"You gotta keep this a secret, okay? Otherwise all the magic will wear off."

Riku nodded with a smile and ran to his friend, leaving Terra still kneeling on the sand. As he glanced back at the other boy, he reached his hand up to clutch his chest in an attempt to ease the pain. Furrowing his brows, Terra couldn't for the life of him figure out why that boy reminded him so much of Nova.