Merry Christmas! Was Santa kind with you? You might have noticed the cover of this fic changed: this cover is a present from Taliax, and I love it so much. It you want to see it in HD, check it out on DeviantArt, her account is TaliaxLatia! I am so so soooo happy with that! Thank you once again, Taliax, this is perfect!
Aqua had spent four days stuck in her bed. Her throat was painful, her head ached so much, and she was almost too weak to even get up. The fever would not leave her body no matter the medicines and the spells she used, and she was tired. But she was also suffocating, prisoner of her room by her own body. She needed some fresh air.
"Woah there, running away, aren't you?" She had barely reached the middle of the corridor when she heard Terra's voice behind her.
"I can't... I need to... Breathe." She answered, fever making it hard to form proper sentences.
"That I can understand. Do you mind if I accompany you, then?"
She shook her head and he beamed at her. "Give me a second then!"
He disappeared into his room, then into hers, and when he came back, he wrapped her in layers of coats, scarves, put her some gloves and even some earcuffs. After looking at her for a second, he nodded. "That way, you won't catch any cold."
"I already have a cold, Terra."
"Then you won't catch two colds."
Aqua started to laugh, until it turned to a terrible cough. Terra, dropping the cool face to a worried one, rushed to help her stay on her feet.
"Sorry. No more jokes, I promise. I'll leave them to Ven. Let's take you outside now! Come on, jump in!"
He kneeled in front of her, offering his back, and it took her a while to get it. "You want... Piggyback."
He grinned. "You never complained when we were younger, did you? Are you going to complain now?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her up. When they were kids, he would carry her and then run around the castle – he pretended it would make him grow stronger. Given how broad and muscular his back was now, Aqua thought it might actually have worked.
He carried her to a bench outside, on the top of the hill. The wind was chilly, but thanks to all the layers he had put on her, she barely felt it.
"Oh, Aqua, guess what I found in the bottom of a box in my room? I thought it might cheer you up." He took an old book from his pocket.
"Oh my, Terra, is that...?"
"You've got it. The apology book. I can't believe I still had it."
It was an idea Master Eraqus came up with when his students were still kids. They got along fairly well, but they would sometimes fight and be angry at each other. As a punition, they would have to write down on this book a word of apology and add something nice about the other one, and then read it out loud. It did wonders – it was so embarrassing they made sure to fight as little as possible.
"Want me to do some reading?"
Aqua's eyes sparkled – mostly because of the fever, but also with excitement. She put her head on Terra's shoulder, listening.
"March 24th. I'm sorry I called Aqua... Oh no this is so embarrassing. I don't want to remember that, actually."
"What did you call me again?"
"I'm sorry I called Aqua an ugly moron. She is not that ugly and she is clever."
Aqua held out her laughter, not wanting the painful cough to come back. "She's not that ugly? That was your conception of something nice?"
"Aqua, I was eight. I'm sure that's the nicest thing I was able to tell back then."
"Keep on reading."
"August 1st. I'm sorry I broke Aqua's doll. She is my friend and I was jealous she wouldn't play with me. But she is still my best friend and I don't want her to be angry at me."
Aqua squeezed Terra's hand in her gloved hand.
"I remember that. I really liked that doll, you know. But it's okay, I liked you better. I think.
"What? If I recall correctly, that doll was terrifying. I still see it on my nightmares sometimes."
"That's payback. Read me something else. The last entry."
Terra flipped through the pages, until the last one.
"I was probably sixteen then, I guess?"
"Sixteen? Terra, the Master stopped using that when we were around twelve... You kept on writing in it?"
"I guess I did. That helped when I said horrible stuff to you but was too proud to apologize."
"Read it. Please."
"October 23rd. I'm the worst. I broke Aqua's necklace by accident. It was her mother's. She spent three days locked in her room and she won't talk to me. I..."
He stopped reading, and Aqua lifted her eyes to him.
"I remember. I wasn't really angry at you, though. I was repairing it. I was so focused I kind of ignored anyone talking to me. But there's more, isn't it? You have not read the compliment yet. I'm waiting. What compliment would 16-year-old Terra say about me?"
Terra took a deep breath.
"She won't talk to me. I want to hold her in my arms and apologize for everything, because she's the one I love."
They remained silent for a while. Then Aqua squeezed his hand again.
"If only you had told me that then... Things would have been easier, wouldn't they? I wish it was that simple now."
Terra put his arm around her shoulders and rested his head against hers.
"That's my punition for being so slow... But I waited for you for so long, I can wait longer if needed. No matter what, you're still my best friend, and loving you as such is more than enough."
She closed her eyes, smiling behind her scarf.
When she opened them again, she was back in her room, a bowl of warm soup on the bedside table. Her coat and scarf were carefully folded on her chair.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, taking in a deep breath.
She was feeling better already.
Sorry for Terra's joke. That might have been terribly OOC but that's the kind of stupid humour I have xD
Now that this chapter is out, let me tell you that I'm working on a fic about these apology books. Don't know if I will finish it or not, hopefully I will! (Yeah I actually have several BBS stuff to publish :D )
Once again, Merry Christmas everyone!