With her days and evenings tied up in the library with Lea and Isa, time slipped by like molasses. Due to their previous transgressions, Ansem required them to be supervised for the entirety of their time in the castle. From early morning until late night, the boys studied under Mira's watchful, albeit bored eye, pausing only to use the restroom or eat. That left little opportunity for her to go down to the inn and question Gast about this supposed rumor. When she tried bringing it up again, Lea and Isa changed the subject or waxed on about economic opportunity. If they hadn't let it slip about the rumor in the first place, they would've convinced her they were merely working toward their bright futures.

But the experiment was tomorrow, and nothing, not even the mysterious rumors could distract her any longer. All day she'd been on edge, running what she knew about the power of waking through her mind, though that mostly amounted to the dangers of its misuse. She'd taken to scribbling possible outcomes on a notepad, but it only worsened her dread. By the end of the day, she was staring at a blank page, eyes vacant and mind nestled deep in the worries of tomorrow. Not even Lea and Isa's conspicuous, worried glances couldn't penetrate the fog she was in. Her chances of success were narrow, and there was a solid possibility she'd fail. The notion had her struggling to breathe at times.

Several hours after the sun had set, the boys finally called it quits and she escorted them from the castle as usual. Her body went through the motions of walking and saying goodnight, but inside, she was numb. Well after they were out of sight, Mira lingered in the frigid air; no sound other than the snowfall disturbed the night, and she allowed the stillness to fill her up.

"May my heart be my guiding key," Mira whispered. More and more, though, those words inspired her less. Her heart was part of the problem, wasn't it? If only she could actually rely on it, but she was too weak-

Snow crunched behind her. "Now that's something I haven't heard in a while. What're you doing out here, Princess?"

"Thinking," was her absent reply.

A hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her into a warm chest. "C'mon, let's go inside." Mira allowed Braig to pull her away, and the pair trudged up the familiar path to her room in silence.

Shutting the door behind them, Braig guided Mira to sit on her bed and wrapped her in a blanket. Neither spoke until he took her hand, lacing their fingers together, grounding her in the present.

Mira blinked, finally meeting his gaze. "Aren't you... Aren't you supposed to be doing something right now?"

Just as quietly, he replied, "We finished our preparations early, so Ansem let us go. Things should start winding down a little after tomorrow. Hopefully."

"Preparations for what?"

He raised a brow. "The experiment?" He pulled his glove off and held his hand against her forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," she muttered, leaning away. "Just confused. I'm directly involved in this -why was I put on babysitting duty when I could've been helping?" This was obviously a miscommunication. There was no way they would exclude her from something so important.

"When you put it like that-"

Mira jerked her hand away and glared at him. "That's all you have to say?! This is serious, Braig!"

He frowned. "There's no need to yell. You only needed to focus on your own part – we'll handle the rest. You have a plan, don't you?"

"I do, but it's just..." She bit her lip, falling quiet.

Braig tipped her chin up to look at him. "Are you nervous?"

"Terrified," she whispered, eyes watering. "And I've had nothing to do by agonize over everything that could go wrong all week..."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Do you want to talk about what you're going to do?"

Mira shook her head. "It's obscure keyblade stuff... you wouldn't understand. I barely do," she mumbled.

He exhaled sharply. "I don't think you give me enough credit but talking it out isn't for me – it's to help you."

"I know, and I don't want to talk about it!" she snapped, putting her head in her hands.

"Alright, alright," he said, releasing her and taking a step back. "If it makes you feel better, Ansem wanted to try some less-risky measures first and escalate from there as needed. You may not even need to do whatever it is you're planning on doing."

"But he said the previous experiments yielded nothing. That's why he wanted me to use my keyblade..."

Braig nodded and moved to sit at her desk, turning the chair to face her. "None of the previous experiments involved you, though. We want to test if adding you as a variable has any effect on the results from some of the exercises we've done before."

They didn't think that was important enough to share earlier? Mira crossed her arms, scowling. "Okay... and what's that gonna look like?"

"Ansem wants to start with you and Xehanort talking since that was what triggered him before. If that doesn't work, then we'll move onto a spar between you two."

"Sparring?" Mira scoffed. "Whose brilliant idea was that?"

"Mine," he said flatly. "It had no effect when we sparred with him, but given that he's your master, it makes sense that recreating a scenario like that might trigger his memories."

Mira stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "But he has no weapon... You want me to fight him while he's unarmed?"

He waved a dismissive hand. "I have no doubt the keyblade will manifest itself if he needs it."

"And if that doesn't happen?"

"Then that's where your plan comes in; the one you don't want to talk about." He eyed her pointedly. When she didn't respond, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Talk to me Mira. Do I need to be worried?"

She bit her lip. "Maybe. I'm... I'm gonna use the power of waking."

Braig paled. "...To do what?" he asked tightly.

"To bring him back? I read that it can be used to wake a sleeping heart, which sounds close enough." He crossed his arms and she hastily, explained, "It's a stretch, I'll admit, but my master isn't in control of Terra's body, and it got me thinking – why not? Maybe his heart's asleep and that's why we're having a hard time reaching him."

Braig frowned, furrowing his brow. "That's a big maybe... What are the risks to using the power of waking?" She averted her eyes. "Are they what have you so scared for tomorrow?" he probed. When Mira nodded, he stood and padded toward her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "Then I need you to tell me."

"It doesn't matter-"

"It does," he asserted. "It does because, if there's anything I can do-"

"You can't do anything because it all depends on me doing it right!" she cried. "If I don't, I could send one or both of our hearts adrift either in darkness or sleep. Or-" her voice caught, "or I could be erased..."

"Then that's too dangerous-"

"I know, but it's all I've got." Her hands trembled. "I have to get him back."

He stilled. "You will, but we'll find another way – something that won't result losing you."

"You'll lose me regardless, whether I fail or succeed," Mira whispered.

"No." Braig wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "Don't do this," he murmured against her hair.

She tilted her head back and cupped his cheek. His mournful expression broke her heart. "I have to try."

He couldn't tell her anything or intervene without ruining his cover. 'Braig' wasn't supposed to know about the power of waking. It had never been more tempting to reveal his identity to her, if only to teach her what she should do. The odds were stacked against her if he did nothing. But his hands were tied, and his duty was clear. Not for the first time, he resented his role and what it cost him. He was going to lose her and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Sleep did not find him that night.