Hope you guys are doing well.

Now this world is also based on a Ghibli movie like Terra's world was.

Enjoy!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

My OCs © to me!

Chapter 14: Atherium's Light

Endzela.

A figure skater known the world around as the Faerie of Light.

Beautiful.

Famous.

Her long blue hair trailing around her as she glided across the ice at her many shows.

And from the crowd, a young man, a reporter watched.

And after the show, he approached. "Hello, Miss Endzela. My name is Kennard, I'm a reporter. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course not." She smiled.

…

And one interview turned into another.

And another.

And another.

Interviews turned into dinners.

Dinners turned into dates.

Dates turned into marriage.

Leaving behind her life in the spotlight, Endzela and Kennard bought a farmhouse in the countryside and settled down.

Soon, they welcomed their first child.

A little girl named Aqua. A child with blue hair just like her mother. A child who grew to love skating with her mother and baking with her father.

Then, they welcomed their second. Another little girl named Nia.

A happy, calm, and close family.

But things changed.

They changed when a man visited their farm.

His name was Master Eraqus…

"When I get back, we can go to the Realm of Darkness again." Aqua put some extra clothes in her bag."

Ven sighed. "I'll hold down the fort while you two are gone."

"You can come with me," Terra offered as he picked up his own bag, "I'm sure my family won't mind."

"It's fine. You guys have fun. But don't blame me if the castle is a mess." A wicked smirk crossed his face.

"Careful, your Vanitas is showing."

"Hey!"

Giggling, Aqua closed up her bag and picked it up. "Have fun while we're gone."

"I will."

The woman sighed.

It was time.

Time to go home.

Aqua landed in a bright clearing.

The cool mountain surrounding her as the scents of flowers and fir trees hit her face.

Home.

And not far away, she saw a small farmhouse.

Walking toward it, she felt her heart lighten for a moment.

Memories of running through these fields as a young child filled her mind.

Memories of a quieter time before she became a Keyblade wielder.

"A-Aqua?"

Outside the house, a man stood, a garden hoe in hand. His dirty blonde hair more gray than Aqua remembered. As he smiled, his mustache bristled.

"Hi, Father."

"AQUA! AQUA'S HOME!"

He ran out of the garden as the front door slammed open. A woman who looked like an older version of Aqua standing in the doorway, staring at the girl before she too began to run.

Dropping her bag, Aqua embraced her parents.

Her mother took her face in her hands. "Look at you, my beautiful girl. We were so worried about you."

"Where have you been all this time?" Her father, asked. "Tell us everything!"

"I will."

Aqua looked up in the doorway and saw a young woman, around twenty years old with blue eyes identical to hers and long dirty blonde hair, though the last time Aqua saw her she'd only been eight years old.

Her little sister, Nia.

Nia said nothing.

Didn't even smile or wave.

She just turned around and went back inside.

Aqua and her parents went inside.

They sat down, with Nia standing against the wall, watching.

As Aqua told them everything.

From when she became a Keyblade Master to the defeat of Xehanort.

…

"And now, Terra, Ven, and I are searching for Sora in the dark realm." Her parents' faces tensed at that. "But I'm not alone this time, so I'm alright. And I know how to leave now."

Her mother's tearful gaze met her own. "Oh, my darling girl." She took her hands. "I'm so sorry you had to endure that. But now, we're just happy you're home."

"Yes," her father reached over, pulling her into a hug, "we are."

However, Nia just stared before turning around and walking outside.

Not a word to her sister.

Aqua's gaze followed her, as did her parents. "Give her some time, Aqua. She's… been upset since you vanished."

"Oh…"

…

"Aqua! Where are you going?" Little Nia asked her sister.

"I'm going to become a warrior and save people. I'll be a hero."

Nia looked up at her sister. "But why do you have to go away?"

"It won't be for long." Aqua hugged her little sister. "You won't even notice I'm gone."

"You promise?"

"Promise."

…

Aqua helped her father make supper.

A warm supper that made her heart soar, except for the empty seat at the table.

Nia never came back.

As supper finished up, Aqua let out a sigh and stood up. "Excuse me."

Her parents nodded as her steps followed her sister's outside into the evening sun and toward a newer built barn a few hundred meters away.

Light poured from a slightly open door.

"Nia?" Aqua called inside.

"I'm not talking to you."

"Nia, I just-"

"Go away."

The young woman sighed, placing a hand on the door. "Nia, will you please come out. It's been twelve years. I want to talk to you."

The door slammed open, causing Aqua to stumble back.

"Yeah, it's been twelve years! And if you hadn't left before, you wouldn't have gone missing for twelve years!" Nia seethed. "All you had to do was tell that old man no! All you had to do was follow your old dream to be a figure skater like mother, but NO, you decided to go off to who-knows-where and become a warrior. A warrior who only came home every so often and then vanished off the face of the world for TWELVE YEARS!"

Blinking, Aqua took a step back. "Nia…"

"Proud of your decision now, huh sis?" Nia snapped. "You scared us all half to death by just up and vanishing like that! Did you even once think about us? Or were you too obsessed by your NEW family?"

"Nia, I-"

"We thought you were dead! I thought you were dead!" Nia screamed. "You promised me you'd come home! And then you disappeared!" Tears began to pour down her cheeks. "I just… I wanted you to come home. I didn't want you to be off being a hero. I wanted my sister here. I wanted you here."

Her legs collapsed as she broke down into tears. Twelve years of pain gushing out at once.

"Nia," Aqua, holding back her own tears, knelt down and hugged her sister, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I should've thought about all of you. And I know you won't want to hear this, but I don't regret becoming a Keyblade wielder. I've seen so many amazing things and met so many people. And I got to save the universe. And while I don't regret my decision, know that now I'll be visiting more often. And know that I won't be far away."

…

"How can I believe you this time?"

Reaching into her pocket, Aqua pulled out her gummi phone. "See this, this allows me to talk to people across worlds. I will get one for you, Mother, and Father."

Nia looked at the small box. "It can?" Her eyes lit up slightly as she took the small box, looking it over. "How?"

"It's a combination of magic and science."

Aqua looked down at her sister as the girl carefully studied the device, taking in every detail. She remembered her sister being fascinated with technology.

Perhaps that hadn't changed.

"Nia, do you still love to build things?"

The young woman nodded, wiping her eyes. "I do. Do… you still like skating?"

"Yes, I do. Actually, I used some of my figure skating techniques in some of my fighting." Smiling sadly, she took her sister's hand. "I still like baking too. I use Father's recipes."

"Good."

The two sat on the grass for a time, Nia studying the phone in her hands as her sister looked on in silence.

"Nia, you always talked about building things. Do you have any projects you can show me?"

Nothing she could say could make up for those years gone.

But she could at least try to rebuild a little.

One step at a time.

One day wouldn't do it.

But she had to take the first step.

"Yeah. I have a project."

"Do you want to show me? I would love to see. But you don't have to."

"I don't mind." The girl pushed herself up. "It's in the barn."

Together, the two girls walked to the barn, both unaware that at the house behind them, their mother and father watched from the windows. Listening to everything.

Opening up the barn doors, Nia and Aqua came into view of a wooden plane. Still under construction.

"You're making a plane?"

"Yes," her sister smiled despite herself, "I and many others want to touch the sky. I'm close to finishing."

Her hand brushing against the plane, Aqua smiled. "It's beautiful."

Then-

She got an idea.

"Would you like a taste of what it will be like to fly this plane?"

"Huh?"

Aqua grinned before taking her sister's hand. "Come with me." Pulling her outside again, Aqua stepped away. "Watch this."

She summoned her Keyblade and threw it into the air. In a flash of light, the blade transformed into her glider.

"What is that!?"

"It's mine." She sat down on it, gesturing for Nia to come over. "Hold on tight."

Nia walked over, stepping onto the glider. She gasped as strands of light wrapped around her.

"What are you doi-"

The glider shot off into the sky. Nia screamed, grasping onto Aqua's shoulders as the ground disappeared from under them.

"Look around." Aqua giggled as they leveled out below the cloud level.

Nia's eyes opened, a gasp falling from her lips as the world spread out around her. "Whoa…" Despite herself, she began to laugh.

"One day, when you get that plane finished, we can fly together." Aqua looked back.

"Does that mean you're staying?"

Aqua sighed. "No. I have responsibilities now as a Keyblade Master."

"I figured as much." Nia leaned forward slightly, sighing as well. "I don't want you to go. I want my sister around."

"Nia, I'm never far away." She turned around slightly. "As long as we keep each other in our hearts, we're never far apart. That's the only thing that kept me going during that time I was alone."

Nia stared at her sister.

She listened to the story-

That impossible story.

The whole time she listened, her mind kept repeating the same thing: "This wouldn't have happened if she'd just stayed here."

But then it hit her-

Aqua spent twelve years alone in a literal hell. All alone.

…

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I was selfish." Nia closed her eyes. "I listened that story you told, and I was just thinking all about how you shouldn't have left. I didn't even think about how much you'd suffered."

"I was selfish too. I never considered how you felt about me leaving home. We never actually discussed it before. And I only considered Terra, Ven, and Master Eraqus. I should've considered our family's feelings too… but I didn't."

"Guess we're more alike than I thought." Nia wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, staring up at the clouds.

They floated there, in midair, as the sun set beyond the mountains.

"Want to go back?"

"Sure."

Aqua turned the glider back down toward the ground. As they pulled to a stop and the glider vanished in a flash of light, she smiled. "You want to go to the village tomorrow?"

"Sure. I need to get more scrap metal anyway." Nia straightened her blouse before smiling. "Thank you, Aqua."

"You're welcome."

"So, you want to make these 'Wayfinders' for us?"

"Yes." Aqua smiled at her sister who sat next to her in the rudimentary car as it rumbled down the road. "They just act as symbols for the bond we share. I have one, but it's decorating Master Eraqus's headstone."

Nia's eyes held on the road. "Oh. Then, why don't we get something else for you to remember this place by?"

"Such as?"

"A new outfit." She smirked. "You look nice already, but let's get you an outfit that reminds you of home."

"Alright."

And by the end of the shopping trip, Aqua wore a long navy top over a pale blue shirt. A pale blue choker now bore the heart insignia she wore before. The leggings she wore were a pale blue, and the boots that covered them were white with pink and black decorations. Over this, she wore a long blue coat, sinched at the waist with a pink belt. Her hair, which had grown out so long she'd been keeping it tied up, how hung just around her shoulders.

"Now you look like home." Nia giggled. "And you look stunning."

"I wonder if Terra will like it."

"Who is this Terra guy you keep mentioning? Let me see." Nia leaned closer as Aqua pulled out her phone and pulled up a photo of Terra. "Oh. My. Gosh. He's gorgeous! Are you two dating?"

"No!" Aqua stashed the phone.

"Oh, so he's available?"

"Nia!"

The other girl burst out laughing. "I'm kidding. He's not my type anyway."

"Then what is your type?"

"Hmmm, wooden, with two wings and-"

"You did not just describe your plane."

"So, what if I did?"

The two girls giggled as they made their way back to the vehicle.

"Oh, Aqua, these are lovely!"

Aqua's mother looked down at the new wayfinder in her hands. The glass on her mother's looked like a frozen lake with imprints of snowflakes in it.

Kennard's looked to be an off-white with dark swirls, like drawings on a piece of paper.

Nia's looked like a bright blue with swirls of white, like clouds.

Aqua smiled. The materials her sister was able to help her find let her get a lot more detailed with this set.

"They represent the bond we share and that I am never far away."

"And you'll come visit more?" Her father asked, taking her hand.

"I will, and I'll bring my friends as well." Glancing over at her sister, her eyes softened. "And I'll bring you a device next time so that we can talk anytime without using the paper."

Nia's eyes flashed. "I promise, I'll try not to take it apart to see how it works."

Wrapping her sister in a hug, Aqua felt the warmth of her family.

And the start of reconciling with her sister.

Endzela walked over, taking Aqua's face in her hands. "Know that we love you, so much."

"I know. And I love you all too."

VAs:

Kennard Holland- Liam O'Brien (Vax'ildan, Gaara, Akihiko Sanada, Asura, Vorugal)

Endzela Holland- Allegra Clark (Dorthea, Maki Zenin, Shamir, Mitsuru Kirijo, Beidou)

Nia Holland- Anjali Kunapaneni (Shinigami, Kiruko, Dori, Sushang, Roy, Gao, Chandi)

Young Nia- Isabella Crovetti Cramp (Vampirina, Mia, Shine, Zsa-Zsa)