A/N: Two updates in one week!? Is it possible? :O I actually wanted to wait with updating until at least a week had passed, because who knows when the next update will be... but I couldn't bring myself to do that. :P

This takes place the day after the previous chapter. Terra's still eighteen, Aqua and Zack are seventeen, Ven's fourteen. ;) Enjoy reading!

Thanks: TopazDragon98, MaroonAngel of Darkness, Amulet Misty, AquiXia, HawkRider, Walker of Nothing, Mt401, and M. L. Ayala, my beta. :)

~ "Well, that should be Ven, checking up on you and telling you how much of an oddball you are." ~

10) Back

Aqua sat on her bed, behind Terra, who wasn't even mildly surprised at the fact that he was surrounded by blue, from the duvet cover and curtains, to the carpet. After all, he'd been here countless times before, so he was used to it all. Even the lingering smell of vanilla and something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on was more than familiar for him. The brunet had turned his exposed back towards his best friend, his shirt lifted up by himself and showing his sinewy back, which made it considerably easier for Aqua to treat the fresh cuts that marred his otherwise flawless skin.

"If I didn't have you…" the brunet started, sighing gratefully, but trying to sit still for Aqua's sake.

"Then you'd be hopelessly lost... or dead at this point. Honestly, Terra, why don't you ever watch out? How old are you, five?" she muttered under her breath, disapprovingly. "I'm going to put some alcohol on it now, just to be sure."

"Fine, mother, if you must," Terra said jokingly. At that same moment, though, his back tensed and he suppressed a groan of pain. "Ow! Can't you be more careful? I'm already in enough pain as it is."

"…Sorry."

The bluenette swiftly changed hands, fearing that she might hurt Terra with the slightly coarse one. It was pretty much the only disadvantage of being a violinist.

Despite the situation, she couldn't help but smile. Terra had just told her how exactly he'd gotten these cuts in the first place. Apparently, he'd showed Ven some new trick on the younger teen's skateboard. Unfortunately, it hadn't ended too well for Terra and he'd fallen, scraping his back against the pavement in the process. The bluenette could tell that he was pretty embarrassed about it, especially since both Ventus and Aqua had seen him in this state (not to mention the random passersby), but she guessed that she was the only one he trusted enough to take care of him right now.

It didn't take Aqua too long to notice how muscular he'd become throughout the years. She could still remember how meager he'd been eight years or so ago. The blue-haired young woman knew that he was doing fitness in his spare time, among other things. Well, the results were definitely showing. She also tried not to focus on how soft and firm to the touch his skin was, and warm...

Drat, too late for that now.

The blue-haired beauty blinked, trying to clear her head. However, at that moment, she was granted with another topic to think about, as Terra suddenly asked her, "How was your date?"

At once, her head snapped up, even though Terra couldn't see her (he did feel the sudden movement, though, because the bed sagged slightly). "What?" she asked, surprise clear in her voice.

His voice sounded eerily neutral and patient, as he continued. "Your date with Zack. Wasn't that yesterday?"

"Oh, yeah… It was fun."

"Fun?" At this point, Aqua could practically feel how he raised a finely arched eyebrow.

"Yes, fun," she iterated.

"I'm sorry, but could you be a little bit more precise?"

Aqua sighed lightly, wondering what in the world he wanted to hear from her so badly. "Well, I'm sure you already know this, seeing that he's your cousin, but I think he's a nice, polite and funny guy and I liked how everything went so smoothly," was pretty much all she said.

"Are you going to see him again?"

"That depends..."

Terra had a feeling that his best friend purposefully kept it vague, although he didn't know why. He was about to comment on that when the doorbell rang downstairs.

"Well, that should be Ven, checking up on you and telling you how much of an oddball you are," Aqua spoke, after a short, awkward moment of silence.

Almost as though that was a sign, Terra got up from the bed. He gave her a flat look, as he adjusted his black shirt properly so that his back was covered again, hiding the scrapes that were taken care of by deft hands. "Not that that's necessary. You keep reminding me of that constantly."

"And you know what I would do if I were you?" she said, choosing to ignore his last comment.

"What?"

"Clean up your room as soon as you're back home. You could easily break something if you fell over any of the junk that you're keeping there," Aqua remarked.

Terra frowned, running a hand through his chocolate-like spikes and letting out a frustrated sigh. "There's no junk in my room. You're just jealous that you don't have such cool things. You only have... blue." To emphasize his point, the young man looked around.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

"It's just a guy thing you wouldn't understand, so I'm not going to explain it."

Aqua rolled her cerulean eyes, an amused smile tugging at her lips. "Whatever you say, Terra."

A/N: 90 more chapters to go! :D

Next chapter: "By giving you this locket… I promise I'll never forget about you and all those great memories of us together. I'll always cherish them, no matter what happens."