A/N: Yay, this story is more than 90,000 words long now! It's a new milestone that I've hit. Now on to the 95,000.

Thanks: ZalelTribal, and Killya008. :)

~ So this is what it feels like when someone stabs you in the eye with a pencil, Aqua thought. ~

83) Blind

So this is what it feels like when someone stabs you in the eye with a pencil, Aqua thought.

The pain never really left; sometimes it was dull and other times it made her grit her teeth because of its intensity.

Apparently, it had been Terra who had visited her first in the hospital. He had also been the first one to hear that Aqua had been holding tightly unto a pink-colored button that had seemed oddly familiar to him. Of course, Aqua had told him that she thought the button belonged to the culprit, because she had dug her nails into their clothes when she'd asked for help…

"So uh... Did you see who it was?" Terra asked slowly.

"No... They attacked me from behind... I can't remember much of it anyway," she explained, even though she couldn't see Terra's face.

She couldn't see anything, because there was bandage around her eyes. The doctors had told her that there was a chance she would become blind forever, but nothing was certain yet. Aqua had no idea how she was supposed to survive as a blind person. Things that had once seemed so trivial, the easiest tasks, now seemed to be so hard when she couldn't use her eyes. More importantly, what if this meant that she could never read music again? How was she supposed to play her violin ever again? Sure, she was good at memorizing everything she had to play, but still...

Suddenly, as if she remembered something crucial, Aqua sat up straight in her hospital bed. Terra let out a rather uncharacteristic yelp at that.

"Who's taking care of Stitch?"

The bed shifted slightly under Terra's weight when he readjusted himself. "Aqua, for the love of all that's good, stop scaring me like that! Aerith is taking care of Stitch, Yuffie is watering your plants, and Ven and I are taking care of the bills. You happy now?"

Aqua nodded slowly. "Sorry."

At that moment, she heard another set of footsteps. Aqua instinctively looked towards the direction of the door, before realizing that it was of no use.

"Hello Miss Aqua, I'm your nurse. Would it be okay if I could conduct a couple of quick checks on you?"

"Yes, of course," Aqua replied.

The nurse had a friendly voice and her hands were really soft to the touch, albeit a bit cold. But then again, what else was new. Even though the pretty bluenette couldn't see what was happening, she could tell that this nurse knew what she was doing. Judging by the sound of it, everything happened behind a curtain to allow them more privacy.

After a while, the nurse drew back the curtain again and put a tray of food in front of her. "I trust that you are going to help her eat?" she asked Terra softly.

Unbeknown to Aqua, the latter nodded.

In a louder voice, the kind woman continued, "I know it's not exactly the tastiest meal you've ever had, but it's important to eat all of it to get stronger," she reminded Aqua kindly.

Aqua nodded. "Allright. Thank you."

Wow, the nurse really didn't exaggerate about the food, Aqua thought after her first bite.

What was she even eating? It was hard to tell when you couldn't see what was on your plate.

As soon as the nurse had left the room, Terra whispered, "Whoa, she looked just like you! I swear, you should have seen- Uh, sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's fine... What did she look like?" Aqua asked curiously.

"Short black hair and cobalt-blue eyes. She was rather petite though. But the similarity between your faces is really something else."

"Kind of like you and Xehanort you mean?" Aqua quipped lightly.

"Oh hush you."

A/N: Next chapter: Aqua was more than glad that those two had finally become an item, since they had been beating around the bush for as long as she could remember.

Can you guess who this is about? Hint: the prompt for the next chapter is 'Basket.' :)