Disclaimers: I don't own anything but the game merchandise and this story. OTL The challenge, however, belongs to HawkRider.
A/N: Okay, I'll be real and say that I once again forgot to incorporate the theme. OTL I had to actually switch up my themes the right way too. Haha! Soo…if you read carefully, I sort of clumped things in three's. That should cover getting the theme done. :P Then, again that could just be me. Guh… OTL In any case, we get some more drama here. It'll probably lighten up (not really) in the future, but honestly, we're getting to the heart of the problem. :)
And off-topic: I've been reading too much Pandora Hearts~ Don't you just love how everyone bends the story of Alice in Wonderland? Haha! ;v; See? If you're going to write a story based off an existing one, you gotta add your own twist to keep things interesting instead of making a carbon copy! -hint hint-
In any case, thanks for reading and reviewing! :) If I've made a mistake somewhere, feel free to correct me. I know I feel silly for missing mistakes after reading these chapters five times. OTL Please enjoy and R&R!
.: oo9 | Three | oo9 :.
~ Innocent Swan ~
I was utterly speechless now that Terra knew my secret. He knew I was playing cupid; knew I was the reason his friend was in a rocky relationship; but most of all, he knew I was meddling with Aqua's love life for all the wrong reasons.
"What?" Terra disregarded the blonde's claim with a frown. Eyes narrowed, Terra attempted to defend my 'innocence'. "Kairi would never do that. Stop taking your anger out on someone else."
A mocking laugh escaped the blonde before she challenged Terra's glare. "Oh stop with the BS! You were never there when things happened, Terra, so don't try and pretend that you know everything when Kairi hasn't told you anything." Larxene's onslaught of insults didn't stop as she sneered at me and I quickly looked away; my hands balling into fists on my lap. "That pretty little face of hers is anything but angelic. She fancies herself a matchmaker – when in reality – Kairi's nothing more than a home-wrecker—"
"Enough!" Terra stood protectively in front of me and Ven actually had to stop him from jumping Larxene (though the female blonde was far from intimidated). The anger in his voice was unquenchable. "Screw off, Larxene! I tolerate you because you're Saix's girlfriend, but nothing more. Keep your BS to yourself!"
"Hmph, well aren't you romantic, Terra?" Larxene snorted with a haughty cross of her arms. Turning around, Larxene headed for the entrance of the shop. "I finally understand why Aqua's hated you all this time. You really can't make up your mind."
"Larxene!" Axel took a step forward to chase her when Saix threw up his hand to stop him.
The blue-haired male kept his face blank as he evenly spoke. "Let her go. All this shouting is giving me a headache."
Axel furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, watching as Saix gathered his coat and headed out the door as well. "You gonna go after her?"
Saix's voice was cold. "No, I'm not."
Terra's friends flabbergasted, but it was Axel who growled in frustration as he ran a hand through his red hair. "Fricken hell, those two are high-maintenance! No wonder they're suited for each other: they're both stubborn as they are prideful."
"What are you going to do about Saïx? Talk to him?" Ven asked; dropping his hold around Terra once the brunet had calmed down.
"Later." Axel mumbled knowingly. "I'm probably the last person he wants to see right now."
Unable to stay quiet, I whispered an apology, but a sniffle made my voice unsteady. "I-I'm sorry…"
"What are you apologizing for?" Terra questioned. From the corner of my eye, he knelt down beside my chair with a smile upon his lips to cheer me up. Terra's hand stroked my hair gently as he cooed. "You didn't do anything wrong, Kairi. Larxene's the very definition of a 'Queen Bee' anyways."
"But what if I did…do something?" Another sharp whisper escaped me as I moved away from Terra's warmth; feeling all too guilty that what Larxene had said was probably true.
Terra's smile wavered slightly. "What do you mean?"
"What if…" I bit my bottom lip before lowering my head to hide any signs of tears from falling. Bitterly laughing a little, I continued. "What if I am playing with Aqua's love life like it was a game?" I noticed Ven and Axel exchanging confused glances while Terra kept his eyes on me. He continued to bore unabashed as we remained quiet, though I was shaking faintly in my spot from all the tears I was holding back.
"…Are you?"
There was something in his voice that frightened me. It was stoic yet there was a sense of disappointment, sadness, and perhaps even a little resentment all at once. I couldn't make out what Terra was feeling towards me, but the only overwhelming fact that made my shoulders heavy was that Terra probably hated me now. Accidentally letting out a small whimper, my chair screeched backwards after I spontaneously got to my feet. The trio of guys were caught by surprise, but before they knew, I was running outside as fast as I could.
"Kairi!" I heard Terra cry out, but that only caused me to run faster. It was getting hard to see…with water blurring my vision.
¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨·..·¨
"1…2…3… 1…2…3… Ariel, keep your leg straight as you start a fouetté." As always, Aqua was quick to help out her students perform a ballet technique on the metal bar facing the mirror as I silently watched. Aqua… She always seemed so in-control; so…confident about everything. She finally noticed me standing by the large doors and blinked in bewilderment. Turning to face her students again, Aqua instructed. "Excuse me for a moment. Belle, lead the exercises until I get back please."
Quickly hiding behind the doors, I clumsily wiped my face of the stray tears that stained my cheeks when I ran all the way to Aqua's work studio. Honestly, when I thought about it, that was a stupid move on my part considering how I hated making my sister worry. Aqua's footsteps started coming closer and she was eventually at the door; my back facing her in nervous hesitation.
"Kairi, what are you doing here? What's wrong?" she asked me while attempting to spin me around. When I stubbornly refused to do so, Aqua was already aware that something was wrong. "…What did Terra do?"
At the mention of his name, I accidentally looked up at Aqua to tell her Terra did nothing wrong, but by then, my mouth only hung open wordlessly as new tears began rolling down my cheeks. My older sister's oceanic eyes widened slightly before closing in sympathy. Aqua pulled me into a hug without hesitation and the comfort I felt had me quietly bawling against my sister's embrace. I wasn't sure how long we stood there together – the muttering of Aqua's students acting as white noise – before Aqua pulled away from me slowly. Curious, I gazed up at her to find her staring down the hallway to the glass doors of the building with a glare…aimed at Terra.
A silent gasp escaped me and suddenly Aqua was making her way to Terra's spot outside; the brunet pausing from opening the entrance door when he caught sight of us. However, Terra was more focused on Aqua just a little more because she looked angry… Oh crap! I hastily grabbed Aqua's hand and shook my head. "Aqua, wait—"
"I warned him." She wasn't hearing me anymore! "I warned him, but he just continues to be so full of himself!" Aqua ripped her hand away from mine and all I could do was watch nervously as she stormed down the hallway. Terra was surprisingly calm—mouth pressed into a thin line and eyes always locked onto Aqua's without moving an inch. I took a shaky step forward then stopped entirely frozen in my spot. I knew I should intercept the impending doom between the two adults, but I was so conflicted to actually do anything and it hurt.
Once Aqua took a step outside, she instantaneously began shouting at Terra; her hands on her hips while she leaned towards the brunet threateningly. Terra only raised his hands in defense and started retorting something back with a small sneer. They matched each other in terms of physical movement as they bickered back and forth, but the intensity between them only seemed to increase once Terra raised a hand to point at me; causing me to flinch. Aqua, however, condemned the motion and angrily slapped the brunet's hand away; her shouting almost audible by now. That of course fed the fire and Terra attempted to outdo Aqua by yelling louder. Both adults started getting more animated with their actions and I was afraid someone was going to get hurt, but…I was too scared to move…
Just as I started drowning in my own helplessness, a figure of a man waltzed past me. His appearance startled me and – as I looked up – my eyes dilated unexpectedly. This man…he had Terra's face albeit a lot more hardened and somber. I watched as he strutted towards the commotion Aqua and Terra were making just in time to stop Aqua from slapping Terra clear across the face by grabbing her wrist. They both looked up in perplexity, but it was really Terra who seemed more grimaced by the appearance of this silver-haired man. Actually – now that I think about it – the man was probably Terra's older brother, Xemnas…
It was hard to make out properly without squinting, but Xemnas was definitely scolding both Aqua and Terra. My older sister and my childhood crush were facing downwards in a mixture of guilt and irritation, but neither of them was brave enough to defend themselves against the 'boss'. Xemnas suddenly turned his attention to Aqua and she nodded her head nervously when he spoke before she walked back inside the building; causing me to spring into action and meet her halfway. "W-What happened?"
"I'm finished for the day." Aqua cleared her throat, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she headed for her dance room. "Just…give me a minute, Kairi. We'll go home together."
I nodded quietly, sighed for a moment, and then dragged my violet eyes towards the entrance again. Unlike before, Terra was fairly more vocal against Xemnas now that Aqua wasn't around. From what I could see, the brunet was arguing with his older brother—grabbing his brown hair in frustration before looking away with a scowl. Xemnas must've said something to rile Terra up afterwards because the next thing I knew, the brunet was glaring daggers before his older sibling clapped a hand down on Terra's head and started disheveling his spikes.
Huh, is that were Terra picked up that habit? He was always ruffling my hair whenever I was upset…
The brothers talked a little more before Terra indecisively nodded his head; slowly turning his eyes my way. Of course, my focus darted everywhere before meeting Terra's blue hues. There was sadness in his intense gaze before he turned around and stoically walked back to his bike. His reaction… I hated it. I had to apologize to him!
I started running towards the doors just as Xemnas reentered the building himself. We passed by each other with our destinations fixed in front of us, but before I could even push the entrance doors open, I heard a chillingly deep voice stop my advances. "It's been three years since I've seen him look like that."
Startled, I nervously looked over my shoulder only to find Xemnas's towering back facing me. "W-What…?"
It killed me how long he kept a silent vigil until he started to walk away. "You're a smart girl from what Aqua tells me. Perhaps it's time you reflect on how you affect the people around you."
Reflect…?
It honestly didn't take that long to know what Xemnas meant and my guilt welled up when it was obvious that I caused all this to happen by coming to Aqua and dropping my problems on her. Whatever trust she had for Terra dwindled to nothing; she would be dealing with Larxene's moodiness come tomorrow morning; and most of all, her stress levels had continued to increase. Whatever happened to showing Aqua that I could take care of myself? If anything, this entire day cemented that I was still the baby sister in need of protection. And then there was Terra: not once did I show him that I could be his equal; I caused the rift between him and my sister to get bigger; and consequentially, I became the type of person he hated. After everything that I caused and affected in his life, I wouldn't doubt it if I was suddenly his least favorite person in the world.
No… I was probably the one person Terra and Aqua could do without.
