(A/N): On to the start of the real story. This is set before BBS and so Terra isn't all doom and gloom about failing the Mark of Mastery. So he should be a bit more upbeat about things in this fic. Then Hardships will happen and we'll have the Terra you all love/hate depending on who you are.

Jade: Told ya he wouldn't do it Mika.

Mika: Aren't you and Herald guys though? Shouldn't you both just be all about sex?!

Jade: That's a stereotype and you know it. If you aren't careful I'll stereotype you into the ground.

Mika: Fine. I'll settle for now.

Jade: Sorry for her. For those that don't know already Mika... she's a loud mouth to say the least. She likes to worm her way into things, she practically writes herself, and she's a diva. Hopefully she'll stay out of the Author Notes from now on... I doubt it.

Chapter 1

As part of their training Master Eraqus had sent his two pupils Aqua a teenage girl with a knack for magic and Terra guy with incredible strength and drive to a world called Clestia. Eraqus had opened the Lanes Between for his students. Both students were riding on their Keyblade Gliders to the world protected from the Darkness by their armor. Clestia was a place inhabited by both monsters and humans. There was a strong military presence on the world in the form of multiple mercenary groups. Kingdoms would pay the mercenaries to fight for their small armies rather than supply their own soldiers. When the kingdoms weren't fighting each other they would use the mercenaries to protect the villages from attacks by the creatures of the world. One of the mercenary leaders was what you would call an "off worlder". He and Eraqus knew each other from the time when the Keyblade Master was in training himself. Now as a favor the leader would accept Aqua and Terra into the group and they would be sent on the more dangerous missions as part of their training. Terra and Aqua's fellow apprentice Ventus had to stay back at The Land of Departure to undergo a personal training session with the Master.

"Hey Aqua." Terra's gruff voice echoed in his full helm. "Did Master Eraqus say where we're supposed to find this guy?"

"He just said follow the light and we should arrive at the right town." Aqua replied.

"Well I hope he's right. I don't want to get there and spend all our time trying to find the town. We're only supposed to be there for three months or so." Even though she couldn't see his face Aqua could hear the frown on Terra's face.

"Don't worry Terra. I'm sure the Master wouldn't give us wrong directions." Aqua tried to assure him.

One of the many stars that dotted the darkness grew into a sphere. It was green world with patches of brown and blue. A small light glimmered in the darkness as the path of the Lanes Between shimmered into existence. Even after Darkness had taken over the Light still connected the worlds together. A Keyblade Master had the power to open and close these paths. Once opened a path of light would emerge as a guide from one world to the other. This wasn't the first time that the two Keybearers had been to another world. Following the path of light down to the world they entered a small vortex that would take them out of the Lanes and onto the world. Coming out of the Lanes and into the world of Clestia the first thing Aqua noticed was how vast the landscape was compared to The Land of Departure. Her home was a small world and it got to her to be able to look so far out into the distance and still see so much, even if it was only trees at the moment. They flew a little bit over the vast forest till they could spot a town in the distance. Landing in the forest they returned their gliders to Keyblade form and dismissed the weapon along with their armor.

Aqua was a delicate looking girl under her armor. She was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. White bell-sleeves covered her arms and tan fingerless gloves . She also wore a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. Black stockings ran up her legs reaching to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. Two strips of blue cloth draped over either side of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner. Finally, she had on a pair of pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each. She had blue hair that fell down to her shoulder and framed the soft features of her face. Bright blues orbs looked over her surroundings taking in all that Clestia had to offer her.

With his armor gone Terra was revealed to be a tall guy with brown hair that went to the base of his neck in the back and has rather messy, vertical spikes with bangs that frame his face. Deep blue eyes stood out against slightly tanned skin. He had on two intersecting straps over his chest, almost resembling crisscrossed suspenders. A skintight, black, high-collared shirt that showed a more chiseled physique. His pants a dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which are undone. The rest of the pants are tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. A plain black wristband on his right arm, while his left arm is significantly more armored. The armor went from the top of his shoulder all the way down to his hand. It was segmented alternating between dark grey and dark red. His boots were armored in dark brown and gold.

Trees lined Aqua's vision in every direction she looked. Between the trees was almost as dark as night they were so close together. Only the small clearing that she and Terra had landed cast any light onto the forest floor. Unknown creatures stirred in brush that lined the ground. Training or not the forest exuded a creepy feeling that Aqua couldn't shake off. Looking off in the direction she had seen the town in Aqua started to head for it only to be stopped by Terra's hand on her shoulder. His large hand dwarfed her slender shoulder and the pressure he put on it stopped Aqua in her tracks. Terra pointed to his right where a wooden object jutted out from a bush. Looking closely at the object Aqua could tell that the wood had been carved with symbols unfamiliar to her. Eraqus had taught all three of his apprentices many different written languages. Oddly the majority of the worlds all spoke the same language or at least the world's magic made it that way. There wasn't much time to try and figure it out as whatever was holding the stick stood up. Aqua had seen many other creatures from various worlds either in person or pictures so she wasn't too disgusted by the creature that stood up. It was goblin and from the headdress it wore it was a shaman. Rainfell flashed into her hand as Aqua readied herself to fight. Another flash of light in Terra's hand announced the arrival of his Keyblade, Earthshaker.

Before either Keybearer could attack the goblin a bolt of lightning shot out from the cluster of trees and zapped the shaman's staff. With an ear shattering cry the goblin dropped its burnt staff and raced off into the forest. Not knowing what had shot at the goblin Aqua and Terra stood ready to fight whatever had performed the Thunder magic. Expecting another monster of some sort seeing as how this world was supposed riddled with them both off worlders were a little shocked to see two teenage girls step out into the clearing.

"See Rin I told you there were people here." the blonde haired girl said. She was holding a metal staff in her hand the tip of it still crackling with magical residue.

"And they have weapons Mika they could handle themselves. You're still recovering after all." Rin said in a motherly tone.

"Weapons? You call those things weapons?" Mika gestured with both hands to Aqua's Keyblade. "Beside the stuff you gave me worked great. I feel fine."

"Your friend's right. We can handle ourselves just fine. Our master has trained us well." Terra spoke up defending his fighting capabilities.

"Calm down macho man." Mika's voice was more annoyed than anything else.

"Excuse me. You said you knew we were here?" Aqua interjected. Terra tensed up as he understood what that could mean for them. If this girl had seen them on their gliders then it could be a little disastrous for them. Many worlds didn't have the technology or magic for them to be riding on their gliders in view of the general public. Seeing something like that could lead to questions that Aqua wouldn't be able to answer. Only a few such as Keybearers were supposed to know about the existence of other worlds.

"Uh yeah. I didn't see you two or anything but I could feel a large amount of magic coming from this direction. No goblin has the firepower that I was feeling so it stood to reason that it was a human." Mika answered.

Aqua let out a sigh of relief. Mika had only sensed the magic exuded from the gliders. It would take someone highly sensitive to magic though to be able to sense the amount of power that she had described. From what they had been told of Clestia magic wasn't something that was openly practiced and was frowned upon by most. It was a shame then that this girl's power would be wasted on her world because the people feared magic. Looking the blonde over again Aqua could see what her friend had meant by still recovering. Her eyes looked a little sunken in and she seemed as if she was out of breath. Seeing as how Mika seemed to be a warrior of sorts by the way she talked then she shouldn't be out of breath when Rin, who looked frail, was doing perfectly fine.

"We should probably be getting out of here Aqua." Terra said dismissing his Earthshaker. If the disappearance of Terra's Keyblade startled either woman it didn't show on their faces.

"Where you two headed?" Rin asked stepping forward.

"I want to know what they're doing in this forest in the first place." Mika scoffed.

"We don't know the town's name but we're heading to the home of a mercenary group called the Knights." Aqua informed them. The town that she had seen in the distance probably wasn't the location of the headquarters. It hadn't looked large enough to house the fortress that Eraqus had described. Aqua had planned to ask the residents for directions when they got there but hopefully she could get those directions now.

"You're in luck... wait we haven't introduced ourselves yet have we?" Mika laughed. "Name's Mikaela but everyone calls me Mika."

"Oh my gods I'm so sorry. We should have introduced ourselves first. My name's Rin." The dark blue haired girl quickly curtseyed.

"It's fine." Aqua suppressed a giggle at Rin's expense. "I'm Aqua and this is my friend Terra." Even though she couldn't see it a flash of pain shot over Terra's face as he was referred to as a friend. Rin had managed to catch the look though.

"We were passing through the forest and got a little lost." Terra explained in answer to Mika's question.

"Stay on the path next time and you'll be fine." Mika scolded. "But like I was going to say. You're in luck Aqua. I used to work for the Knights. Once we get back to Rin's place I'll give you directions."

"That'd be great thanks." Aqua thanked her.

Rin followed after Mika who had taken point to lead them out of the forest. The only reason that they had been here was because Rin's necklace had broken and fallen to the forest floor the last time they were here. It had been a gift from her brother before she had left home to strike out on her own. It was a simple iron chain holding a painted heart locket. Inside he had engraved Love ya sis. Rin had worn that locket everyday since she had gotten it. When she realized that she could no longer feel the weight of it on her neck she had almost broken down and cried. The forest was a large place and it was likely that the goblins of the forest had taken it already. Mika had heard Rin trying to hold back sob and kindly asked her what was wrong. After telling Mika the blonde had offered to take Rin back in to find it. The doctor that Rin had gotten for Mika hadn't know what to do other than help dull the pain. Rin had used her knowledge of herbs and tonics she had picked up from herbalists that had stopped at her father's shop and books that she had read to whip up an antidote. It had helped Mika greatly and she had been back on her feet in a matter of hours afterwards insisting that they go into the forest to find the locket. That was how they ended up in the forest once again. They had found it at the edge of the road where they had left the path to go into the forest. The rion chain had rusted and broken.

It had only been a week since Rin had last been in the Goblin's Forest with Mika and Rin definitely felt that it was far too soon to be back. She wasn't a fighter by any definition of the word and the goblins scared her more than she let on. Having Mika by her side though made the trek into the forest much easier. Her blonde bodyguard was filled with confidence in her abilities and didn't seem like anything would phase her. Aqua seemed like she was cut from the same clothe in that regard to. The light blue haired girl with her odd weapon looked as if she was able to handle herself in a fight. Both women seemed like they had gone through some intense training in their life and were sure that they would be able to handle whatever the world threw at them. Terra with his muscled body looked as if he would be able to rip one of the goblins in two if he had the incentive to do so. With all three of them walking along with her Rin felt pretty safe in the forest.

Rin could feel a weight on her heart grow heavier as they came closer to the edge of the forest. Mika was a fun person to be with even when she was bedridden trying to fight off the effects of an unknown poison. Rin had listened closely to Mika as the blonde had told her all about Solaris. It was nice to see that a Mika had a brother that she was so close to. Rin was a little jealous in fact. Her brother only checked up on her when he came to collect a painting she had finished and acted all business rather than like family. From what Mika had told her the blonde had used part of her earnings to buy Solaris books. It was a sweet kindness that Rin wouldn't have thought a warrior would do. From her understanding most mercenaries cut all ties to their families so they wouldn't worry about them when they were out on missions. While Rin wouldn't admit it in the week that Mika had been staying with her Rin had been worried about the day she would leave. It had been nice to have someone there that didn't think she was crazy for living alone. More importantly Rin had started to feel an attraction to the blonde. It wasn't something she advertised but the reason Rin wasn't already married with kids was that she didn't care for men that way. Rin held out hope that she'd be able to find another girl like her and settle down. So much of her heart hoped that Mika was like her. Seeing as how she was now healed there was every chance that Mika would be on her merry way.

Watching Aqua and Terra walk side by side in conversation Rin wondered if maybe they were a couple. It was odd to see a man and a woman traveling alone unless they were together or family. They looked happy together Aqua had on a small smile whenever she looked away from Terra as if she didn't want him to see how happy she was in his company. At one point Terra must have said something that struck Aqua as funny cause she put her hand up to her lips to try and stifle a laugh. Aqua looked quite cute like that and Rin saw Terra's face light up a bit at Aqua's laugh. There was certainly something there between them but it looked as if they were oblivious to it. Rin had been slightly disturbed at the fact that both of them had made their weapons vanish back in the clearing. Magic made her skin crawl a little bit. It was nothing new to Rin she had seen magic performed a few times in her life but to make a weapon disappear was something she didn't know magic could do. Their weapons had been odd looking to. It was as if they were giant keys and they the edges looked more blunt than sharp so they probably weren't that great for cutting down monsters.

It didn't take long for them to reach the edge of the forest. They had only been a mile or two in when they had found Aqua and Terra. Rin was happy to be out of the forest and back in her hometown. Mika still in the lead and headed towards Rin's small house. With the sun high in the summer sky it was nice to get out from under its harsh rays. What Rin hadn't counted on when she left home was that she'd have visitors. A few of her paintings were lying around the house. They were unfinished works that Rin had lost inspiration for and planned to get back to later. Her work station where her latest painting was at was nothing short of a pig stye. Zipping past Mika who stood in the doorway Rin started picking up her unfinished works and moving them to the other room where she really should have stored them in the first place.

"I'm so sorry my place is a mess." Rin apologized as she shut the door to her storage room. "I really keep it clean but this last week has been a little hectic."

"You call that messy?" Terra chuckled. "You should see Ven's room. I'm surprised he's able to get the door open he's got so much junk piled in front of it."

"Look who's talking Terra." Aqua chided. "Master had to wear a gas mask to enter your room last time you slept in." Terra's face dropped and he started grumbling about how his room wasn't that bad. All three girls had a laugh at him.

"Well you probably want to be getting on your way." Mika said looking at Aqua. "It'd be best if you stay the night at the inn and set off in the morning. Monsters worse than goblins tend to come out during the night."

"Mika they can't stay at the inn." Rin frowned at Mika for suggesting such a thing. "Do you know how fast the men would be on Aqua even with Terra there? They wouldn't get a wink of sleep."

"Where else are they going to sleep?" Mika asked.

"Here. You'll just have to deal with either sleeping in a chair or in my room while Aqua will take the other room and Terra here can sleep on the couch." Rin answered forcefully. She had gotten caught up in the moment and gulped as her mind registered the fact she had basically told Mika that they were going to be sharing a bed. From the look on the mercenary's face she wasn't affected by the prospect in the least which was slightly disheartening to Rin. If Mika preferred girls than there should have been more of a reaction.

"We really don't want to impose on you two." Terra said. "I'm sure Aqua can deal with the guys at the inn."

"I'll have none of that talk Terra." Rin stepped in front of him her hands on her hips as she looked almost straight up at Terra. "Aqua might be strong but even you and your muscles would have problems trying to fend off six men and I promise you the men that come after Aqua will have weapons." Even with the height difference you could see that Terra felt he was being looked down on rather than looked up at.

"Rin's right you know. I mean hell I was there for an afternoon and had to knock a few heads together for them to leave me in peace. That was during broad daylight. Can't imagine what they would have tried if I had stayed the night there." Mika added.

"If she's offering Terra than there's no harm in staying here." Aqua assured her friend.

"No that that's settled I'll get to work on preparing dinner. I'll have to go see Fred about some more thyme if I'm going to be cooking for four." Rin headed towards the door and grabbed a bag that was hanging up on a peg. Putting it on Rin opened the door and turned around looking like she had forgotten something. "You three be nice and don't go into the storage room please." Rin then left the house and headed out to gather what she needed.

-BotH-

Mika lay next to Rin in the bed they were sharing for the night. This was a pleasant unexpected turn of events. When Rin had said they'd share a room Mika had about fallen over in shock. Only years of fighting the unexpected had stopped her from showing how she felt about it. Even still it had been a close call when Rin had looked over at her. It did raise the question in Mika's mind as to why Rin had bothered to look over but she was probably just checking to make sure that it was alright. Normally Mika wouldn't think twice about sharing a bed with someone. Many a nights she had shared a bedroll with a fellow mercenary out in the field. On the cold drafty nights in the Knight's fortress it wasn't uncommon to see people share a cot to keep warm. Something about sharing a bed with Rin though had thrown Mika for a loop. Rin was just another, highly attractive, girl so there shouldn't have been any reason that the prospect had shaken Mika so. It was more than likely because Rin had taken such good care of her while she was getting over the poison in her system. There was probably a little admiration and gratitude towards Rin for helping her with that. What had really threatened to floor Mika was when Rin changed into her nightgown without a care in the world that Mika could see her. Mika had spun around to "give Rin privacy" as she changed but the image of Rin stripping was burned into Mika's mind.

Today Mika was going to offer to take Terra and Aqua to the Knights headquarters. They might know how to fight but if they had gotten lost in Goblin's Forest it would be best if they had an escort with them. Once she was done bringing them there, and checking up on Sol, Mika would have to decide where she would head to next. Life as a solo mercenary meant less jobs but Mika couldn't stand taking orders from men that sat behind desks doing nothing more than counting the money the harder workers brought in. Mika would probably just go back to wandering around and playing things by ear. Rumors spread and where there were rumors there was work. Sometimes Mika had to play detective and figure out if the rumors were true before taking on a job. She didn't get paid for killing monsters that didn't actually exist. Part of Mika was jealous that Rin had a home to call her own and could support herself with her paintings. The desire to find a place to settle down was starting to grow in Mika and that same part wanted to call the bed she wa in home.

It was midmorning when Mika offered to take Terra and Aqua to the Knight's fortress. They gladly accepted the offer saying that they were new to the area and could probably get lost easily. Well Aqua admitted that fact but Terra was your average guy and refused to admit that he needed help. Mika respected that. Show no weakness and charge in head first was her normal way of doing things. Asking for help went against that. Mika packed up her belongs that she'd left in Rin's room and slung her staff onto her back. The tip was getting warped from the lighting she kept dispersing from it which meant that she'd have to look into getting a new one soon. Only a few smiths made weapons in mind with the wielder using magic and they all worked for the kings. So there was no way that Mika was going to be getting a magically resistant staff anytime soon. She had a better chance of learning a ward of her own than saving up enough to buy a enchanted staff.

"Hey Mika." Rin put a hand on the blonde's shoulder as she stood at the door waiting for Terra and Aqua. "When you're done taking these two to the Knights can you come back please. I have another job I need done but it's nothing urgent."

"No problem Rin. I was wondering where I was going to go afterwards anyways." Mika grinned like a chesire. "You sure it's nothing that you need now though?"

"I'm sure. I need some more plants for a painting that I'm planning on doing but it's going to take some time before I need them." Rin assured Mika.

"I'll be back in about a week and a half then. It all depends on if Sol's in between missions or not."

"Oh right. Your brother works for the Knights now. Hope he knows how lucky he is to have such a caring sister." Rin giggled.

Right, caring. Left him alone with a sick father that couldn't do any work and no mother to look after him while I went and explored the world. Real caring. Mika thought as her two traveling companions appeared at the door.

"Ready you two? It'll take about four days or so before we get to Knights HQ. Don't know where you came from but you got yourselves pretty close on your own. Now just trust me and I'll get you the rest of the way there." Mika's voice wasn't the normal carefree tone she normally used. It was like a mercenary instructing their charge on how best to keep safe. "I'm sure you know that monsters out there will eat you without a second thought but you two look like you can fight so I'll be expecting you to help should we run into anything."

"Will do." Aqua and Terra said in unison.

"Alright then. Let's get going we're burning daylight." Mika pointed to the road leading south out of town. The two walked on out of the door. Then looking back at Rin with a soft smile on her face. "I'll be back and we can go on another trip to get you more supplies before you know it."

"I'm counting on it. The passing merchants always overcharge for paints." Rin waved goodbye as Mika headed down the road. "And maybe I'll have worked up the courage to say something by the time you return." Rin whispered to herself.

(A/N): I just want to remind you all that this story is OC focused. Aqua and Terra are a part of it but Bonds is meant to expand Sol, Luna, and Mika giving them more depth while at the same time introducing Rin to the cast cause she does play a role in Hardships. Herald think about what we discussed about Hardships today.

Leave questions, concerns, and comments in the review box please. It'll make this story go so much faster I promise.