It's heeeere~ I was so excited to post this fic! More info at the end, haha. Shoutout to Saphir Actar who wrote about the same thing a while ago, that was quite a delightful surprise!

Theme: Bonding Moment

The first time they met had not been an easy time. It has been a month since Aqua's first day in the Land of Departure, and Master Eraqus hoped that another child would help her open up a bit.

"Aqua, this is Terra. From now on, he will live here as well."

Terra was clutching the Master's trousers, hidden behind him. The little girl with unusual blue hair did not move, her eyes on her book.

"I was hoping you could show him around? Make him feel home."

She finally glanced at the Master as she slapped the book closed. She jumped from her chair and walked towards the boy, who recoiled, scared.

"Follow me."

Eraqus gave him an encouraging smile and the boy reluctantly let go to follow her. She was walking quickly and he had to run to catch up.

"So your name is Aqua?" He tried to initiate the conversation. She did not answer.

"Kitchen." He did not understand until he realised she was pointing at the door next to them. "Living room. Library. Door to go outside."

"Have you been here… Long?"

She ignored him again. Did he say something wrong? Was she always angry?

"Your hair…. I've never seen blue hair before. It's pretty."

She stopped for a second, and then resumed walking. He hoped that was a good sign.

They climbed up the stairs and she led them to another corridor.

"My room. No entry. Bathroom. Your room."

He nervously noticed his room was next to hers. Surely she wouldn't come and try to hurt him in the night, would she?

"Visit done." She tried to get away, but he caught her wrist.

"Do you think we can be friends?"

She glared at him, but this time he was ready. He smiled at her.

"I think we should introduce ourselves properly. My dad always said that you always should introduce yourself in a correct way. So hello! My name is Terra, and I am seven. I like dogs, swimming and eating snacks. What's your name?"

He could see the hint of a smile on her face while she freed her wrist.

"Aqua. I'm six. I like dogs too. I like reading and making things."

"Nice to meet you, Aqua. Can I be your friend?"

She shook her head. "I don't have friends. All my friends are gone. If you become my friend you will be gone too."

He furrowed his brows. "Gone? Where did they go?"

She froze and he knew he had said something he shouldn't have. From her face only, he guessed the answer. He guessed, because he lived the exact same thing two days ago. But she still answered, much to his surprise.

"The Darkness took them away."

No wonder she was so cold. He himself was still terrified from the attack on his world. Only the words of Eraqus allowed him to keep his head clear. I can teach you how to be stronger. How to protect.

"Don't worry, Aqua. I will not let the Darkness take me away. I survived it once and I will survive it again! So let me be your friend!"

She laughed, and from her face she was as surprised as he was about that sound.

"If you promise me to never let the Darkness take you away… I'm glad to meet you, Terra. Sorry for being rude. But everything is so scary…"

She started shaking and he took her hand. I can teach you how to be stronger. How to protect. He would start by protecting her.

"It's okay to be scared. I am scared too. But let's grow stronger together. Let's become even stronger than Master Eraqus. And then… Then we will smash the Darkness away! Just like that! Ka-pow!" He kicked the air several times, and she started laughing, her hand still holding his.

"We will grow stronger together. Together… always."

I really wanted to write something about how Terra and Aqua met. I was so happy to see Saphir wrote a prompt about this as well! It's so fun to compare our work on that topic, because we both followed quite different roads haha [I mean just look at Terra he's terrified by Aqua XD]

But after writing this... I couldn't just stop x'D So I actually wrote a real fic about that, in 2 chapters, about how they joined the Land of Departure! This should be posted after Christmas I think~ (so next week). I really love writing about the BBS characters, they are the easiest to write about. (you might have noticed though x'D )

See you tomorrow~

Let's play a game! I tell you tomorrow's theme and you tell me what you think it could be about. (even if you read this long after the next prompt is posted, you can still play! Leave a review about what/who you think it might be about, then read the next one to check. I would be so interested to know about what comes to your mind with the themes!)

Next theme : No more hope