A/N: Inspiration struck when I was re-watching the cutscene during Terra's time in Castle of Dreams (Cinderella's world) when he sees Aqua and speaks to her. And I thought: "there's a ball going on just up the stairs behind them, and what a shame it is they can't have at least one dance together! D:" …And so, I felt the need to write this.

[One Dance]

[Terra X Aqua]

"Oh, my dear. You shouldn't go into the palace looking like that; there's a ball going on, and surely you would like to not stick out like a sore thumb in it," Fairy Godmother spoke lightly to the blue-haired stranger, glancing over her attire, armor and corset and all. "Here, let me fashion a quick dress for you; just something to last an hour or so while you look for that boy."

She is, of course, referring to Ventus; Aqua mentioned to the fairy that she's looking for a young teenage boy with blond hair who ran away, and, sympathetically, the fairy wants to help in any way she can, even if she isn't specifically Aqua's fairy godmother.

"Oh. Why, thank you," the bluenette replies with a small smile.

In moments, a dress in very much the same color scheme and fashion as Aqua's clothes is suddenly on her, all black and blue and white and pink, and so lovely. It looks a little odd to Aqua, though, due to the bumps and ruffles in places she isn't accustomed to having such things, but, she assumes, this is the style of this world, so she shrugs it off.

As she goes to turn her head, she feels a curl touch her cheek. "Huh?" she murmurs, and she peers down into the water of the castle fountain nearby to see a pin in her hair sparkling against a small bun in her hair. Her bangs and forelocks are styled and lightly curled, and the pin is the same heart-shape as the one she normally wears on her chest. She smiles. "Oh! It's better than I thought!"

"I hoped you might like it," the fairy smiles. She steps over and taps the barrette. "And even after the spell of the dress wears off, you will have this in you hair; a gift, from me to you, like the glass slippers that will remain as a memento for dear Cinderella when her own spell fades."

"That's very kind of you," Aqua remarks. "Thank you, truly."

"It's nothing," Fairy Godmother chuckles. She pushes Aqua's back. "Now get going! You don't want to miss the ball. You never know what you'll find there."

Aqua nods swiftly, and in moments, she's racing up the stairs and into the castle just as a girl in a blue dress with pearl earrings comes racing out.

The keyblade master stills in front of the inner staircase, watching the other girl flee as a clock chimes faintly in the distance. A man – an employee of the palace, by looks of his clothing – chases after her, but he's too old to be the prince himself.

"Aqua?"

She turns, her gaze leaving those in motion to find someone else standing still at the top of the stairs. He's dressed with one arm of armor, his hair is brown, and his voice –

"Terra!" she calls out. Funny that she's looking for one of her male companions and instead locates the other. He looks a bit stunned, his blue eyes blinking as he pivots and starts to jog hastily down the stairs, slowly a bit as he stands before her at the bottom.

"I… What are you doing here? And… why are you dressed like that?"

"I need to blend in. They're not supposed to know other worlds exist, right?" Aqua murmurs. She shakes her head. "But I'm here because Ven ran away from home. I'm looking for him. I feel responsible for him, and Master Eraqus asked me to –"

"Ven must be looking for me," Terra sighs, leaning most of his weight onto one foot. "He was trying to tell me something before I left." He pauses, glancing away, out a window at the starry night sky. "I should have listened to him. I'm sorry I made this happen, but I need to find Master Xehanort."

"I know," she responds quietly, peering down at her silk-gloved hands where she holds them in front of her stomach. "And I'll try not to keep you from it. Have you at least heard anything about Ven?"

"No. If I had, I would've said something," Terra retorts.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," she mutters, biting her inner cheek. She turns and starts to go up the stairs. "Thanks anyway. I'll try to see if he shows up here within the next hour, though, to be safe. Good luck on your own journey, Terra. And be safe; there are Unversed everywhere, and some of them are tougher than others."

"So I've noticed," he replies. "Good luck to you, too. I hope you find Ven. I worry about him being out there alone. We can handle it, but he's so young…"

Aqua pauses on the stairs and peers down at him. "Mmhmm. That's why I need to find him fast," she says. The bluenette is about to keep moving when Terra glances up at her and feels a flutter of light flow through him.

"Aqua, wait," he calls out, and he jogs up the stairs and catches her wrist. She looks at him oddly. "Um." He hesitates, his cheeks feeling warm, and he resists admitting that it's with a blush. "You know, you look… really good like this."

It takes her a moment, but soon Aqua is laughing, wrist slipping out of his hand. Her own cheeks are pink, and he relaxes a bit. "Terra, what –"

"Before we part, would you like to share one dance with me? I mean, just one, since we've never had balls or anything like that back home, castle or no castle. And there's one here, now, so… just one?" he says, words coming out in a rush and surprising him. He hadn't meant to ask this, but now that he has, he finds that he doesn't regret it. It's something that sprang from his heart, a whim he wants to oblige.

Aqua smiles warmly and nods. "Yeah, all right. Sure. But only one, because we have our missions to complete."

He nods, and takes her hand on his arm as he leads her up the stairs to the ballroom. "I know, and normally I would keep going, but… Cinderella, the girl you saw leave a few moments ago, taught me about believing, about having faith in dreams, and how those honest beliefs can light the darkness. And I…" He stops at the top of the stairs, near the balcony, and peers into her eyes. "I realized something, Aqua."

"And what's that?" she says softly.

He smiles gently at her. "I realized that I believe in you and Ven. You two are my light. And seeing you here, like this; it helps conquer the darkness in me that made me fail the Mastery Exam."

"Terra…"

He waves her concern and understanding aside. "It's just something personal that dawned on me. Don't worry."

"All right," she replies, looking toward the ballroom, people in dresses and suits twirling about, the prince off to the side, pacing. She smiles at the scene, as off as it is, because there's something about it that's familiar, and a lot more about it that's exciting and new.

Aqua takes Terra's hand when he offers it, and is led out into the ballroom's dance floor, just off-center from the red carpet lining the middle. She giggles as she looks at the other couples and compares them to the couple she's a part of.

"You stick out so much. How did no one question where you came from?" she muses.

The brunet shrugs. "They probably assumed that I'm a knight of some sort. I have some armor on, anyway. And there are probably other kingdoms in this world, so they probably also assume I'm from one of those. It doesn't matter, I don't think. Everyone here is just here to enjoy themselves." He glances around. "Ven's still not here. If he doesn't show after our dance, it might be best of you move on."

"I will," Aqua replies. And then, just like that, they fall into an easy silence.

Terra takes the blunette into his arms. He's known this young woman nearly all his life, and yet, he couldn't develop any feelings for her that were family-like. Instead, all he ever felt was friendship, the sort that blossomed into genuine love.

And he isn't sure what to do about it, was never sure how to approach her with it, because romantic feelings like those are delicate and intricate and troubling. But this, here… this single dance, this stolen moment between them; this, Terra thinks, is all he ever wanted or needed in order to convey is feelings.

And, he fears, this will be the sole chance he will have to spend time like this with her, and be able to portray the correct feelings. Outside of this dance, they are warriors of the keyblade, protectors of the Light, and comrades, if nothing else. It pains Terra a little to think of it that way, but it's true. That's all they are. That's all they ever can be. And neither of them can predict what their future will bring, particularly with the matters at hand, as dangerous as they potentially are.

Aqua seems to sense this. She looks down, tears filling her eyes. She blinks them away. "Thank you for this, Terra," she whispers, turning her gaze on him and making his breath catch in his throat. She suddenly leans forward in their waltz and rests her head on his broad chest. His heart picks up its beats, and it makes her smile. "I've secretly always wanted something like this with you."

Terra acts like this doesn't affect him, hearing this. In actuality, it's equal parts heartwarming as it is heart wrenching. He's happy to hear that at least some of what he feels is returned, but saddened to think that they could have something together but might not reach it because of their destinies getting in the way.

"Well, then I'm glad I asked you to dance," Terra muses mostly to himself. Aqua hums a half a chuckle and nods. He pulls her away, twirling her once, and then brings her back to his chest. "Come with me for a moment."

He leads her outside, away from prying eyes. They look out at the stars, the other worlds in the sky. Then, slowly, they turn to look at one another.

It doesn't take much time for Terra to cup Aqua's chin in his hand and slowly let his eyes fall shut. And it takes even less time for her to close her own eyes and lean up into him.

Their lips meet slowly, sweetly, and there are so many broken promises in their kiss. The passion isn't lost on the desperation of it. The tear sliding down Aqua's cheek when she understands that this could be their first and last kiss together only adds to the crushing weight of the long kiss, her nails digging through her gloves over Terra's shoulders. His lips move over hers, their mouths meeting between gasping breaths, and then, slowly, he pulls away and disengages himself.

"Goodbye, Aqua."

The bluenette wipes her wet cheek and nods, smiling sadly. "Farwell."

And she watches him go, leaving on his motorcycle-like transport, flying off into an opening Lane Between in the sky with his armor shrouding his body.

Then, slowly, she returns to the ballroom, leaving the castle through the front entrance, her dress falling away into sparkles of light until she is dressed in her own clothes again, the personalized barrette in her hair the only solid piece of evidence that this memory will remain true until the day she dies.