Chapter Text
The door did not lead to the Chamber of Waking. It instead led to a flight of stairs.
“I thought… Castle Oblivion had thirteen floors?” Kairi said, confused.
“It does.” Naminé said. “Or… I thought it did.”
Aqua, who had started climbing the staircase, looked back at them. “Wait… Did you consider the floor when we first entered the first floor?”
If it was physically possible, Naminé and Kairi would have exchanged glances. “Yes?” they both said, confused.
Aqua shook her head. “That’s the ground floor. The first floor is the one we first saw your memories on, Naminé.”
“That’s… but…” Kairi stammered. “That’s not how numbers work!”
“That’s how we always counted the floors in the Land of Departure,” Aqua said, continuing up the stairs. “This will be the thirteenth floor.”
“It’s the fourteenth!” Kairi insisted, racing after her.
“My castle, my rules,” Aqua called back, smirking.
The staircase ended before a door much more ornate than the others in the Castle.
“No cards,” Kairi puzzled. “So how do we…?”
Aqua gave her a side-eyed look and hefted Master’s Defender.
“Oh… right… Keyblade…”
“I think we’ve been in this castle too long,” Naminé teased.
Aqua unlocked the door. Inside was a circular room with large reliefs of the same symbol Aqua wore on her chest running around the inner wall. Chains extended from the bottom of each relief, running down to the centre of the room, where sat a large white throne.
The throne dwarfed the figure of the boy sitting within it, untouched by the ravages of the years.
“Ven!” Aqua cried, and ran to hug him. Ventus didn’t react, still asleep, but they had been expecting that.
“He really does look exactly like Roxas,” Naminé said.
“Or, Roxas looks exactly like him,” Kairi corrected.
Aqua picked Ventus up, bridal style, and walked over to Naminé and Kairi. The joy in her heart was practically radiating off of her. “Thank you both, so much. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without you.”
Naminé smiled. “You don’t need to thank us, Aqua. That’s what friends are for.”
“Absolutely. Just glad that we could help,” Kairi added. “Next stop, Destiny Islands, right?”
Aqua was looking back at the throne, a curious look in her eye. “…yes, right,” she said, her mind clearly having been somewhere else.
“Aqua? Everything all right?” Kairi asked.
Aqua sighed. “Nothing is wrong. I… could turn the Castle’s fortress mode off, now that it’s no longer needed to protect Ven. It would return this world to being the Land of Departure. But…” she paused, and looked down at Ven’s sleeping face. “…I think I’d rather wait until we’re all together. Ven, Terra, and I. Regaining our home… It’s something we should do together.”
“That makes sense,” Kairi said, smiling. “Plus, I think Xehanort might notice if Castle Oblivion suddenly turned into the Land of Departure again. It’s safer this way.”
“Aqua?” Naminé asked. “I know that’s probably going to be very… personal, for you and Ventus and Terra. But… would you mind if I wanted to be present when you change the Castle? I’d… kind of like to watch it go back to what it’s supposed to be.” She looked incredibly nervous about her request.
Aqua smiled. “Of course I wouldn’t mind, Naminé. I can’t speak for Terra and Ven just yet, but I would be glad to have you along when that day comes.” She breathed in a deep breath, and hefted Ven. “Next stop, Destiny Islands.”
Kairi broke into a wide grin and summoned her Keyblade, creating a Light Corridor to her adopted home world. Naminé led the way through, triumphant.
“Are you excited?” Kairi asked.
“Huh?” Naminé said. They were still inside the Light Corridor, but Aqua was trailing behind, far enough not to hear. They didn’t begrudge her that; she’d had a long… however long they were in the Castle.
“Assuming Lea and the boys didn’t drag their feet, you’re probably less than an hour away from getting your body back. Aren’t you excited?”
Naminé’s eyes widened. To be perfectly honest, in the emotional turmoil the trip had carried her, Kairi, and Aqua through, she had completely forgotten that afterwards, she’d be getting a new body. She had the sudden feeling of walking along a cliff, and placing one foot in just the wrong spot so that it leaned out over the drop. Perfectly safe, not going to fall, but suddenly aware that falling wasn’t only possible, it was likely, unless she was very careful.
A whole new world stretched itself out before her, and she suddenly felt very small.
“Huh. The word you’re looking for is ‘sublime’,” Kairi said, when she tried to relay how she was feeling. “Suddenly awed by the enormity of the world and hyper-aware of how small you are in comparison, and how little consideration it can give you.” She smiled. “So more nervous than excited, then?”
“I suppose,” Naminé said. “I… how are things going to change? It’s weird to say, but I’ve been… comfortable, always being around you.”
Kairi laughed. “Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. With the exception of… certain private moments, we can still stick by each other. Trust me, I’m looking forwards to ‘big sistering’ the crap out of you. And if Dad doesn’t like that? Tough!”
Naminé looked down at her hands. “How likely is that?” she asked, quietly.
Kairi’s smile faded. “Naminé, for all I joke about it, I highly doubt that Dad would turn you away. He’s a bit awkward, but he’s a loving person. He’ll love you. I’m certain of it.”
“Are you sure? Would he really want, or accept… me?”
Kairi reached out and took her hand. “Would he welcome into his home a scared, traumatized girl with no home of her own, with nowhere else to go? Well, he already did it, once. I can’t imagine him turning you away, no matter where you came from. And in the extremely unlikely event that he does, Sora’s mom will take you in. We know that.” She squeezed, gently. “You’re going to be okay.”
Naminé squeezed back, tears edging the corner of her eye. “Kairi? I feel so lucky, to have you as my friend. And as a sister.”
Kairi laughed in delight. “I’m lucky to have you, too. We all are. And you’re gonna get all the hugs. All of them.”
The Light Corridor opened onto the round platform on the play island, where Sora and Riku had sparred, long ago. Naminé and Kairi stepped out first, immediately spotting a shock of brown hair and a wide, bright grin.
“Welcome back!” Sora said, scooping Kairi up into a hug. She giggled, and hugged him back.
“How did your mission go?” she asked, warm in his arms.
“Just great!” Sora said. “Met some new friends, even! Lea, Riku, and Mom are helping Even set up. He made us take him along, just in case something went wrong.”
“They didn’t trust you touching sensitive equipment, huh?” Kairi teased, and Sora stuck out his tongue at her.
“Jerk.”
“Yes, but I’m your jerk.”
“Mmm.”
A thought suddenly crossed Kairi’s mind. “Oh, nuts,” she said, mindful of who she was hugging. “Sora, I need to talk to Roxas, right now.”
“Why?”
“He needs to go and tell Lea to remember where he is.”
“Huh?” Sora looked incredibly confused.
Naminé spoke up. “Sora, we found out that Roxas and Ventus are identical. So any minute now, Aqua’s going to come through that Corridor, carrying a person who looks exactly like Roxas.”
Sora’s eyes widened. “Oh, crap,” he muttered. “Rox–”
“I’ll go tell him right now,” Roxas interrupted, breaking the hug. “Thanks for the heads up. This might be rough on him.”
Aqua chose that moment to step through the Corridor. Roxas blanched upon seeing the person in her arms. “You… weren’t kidding. We’re on the far side of the island, we weren’t sure if there’d be a fireworks show, and we don’t want the people on the main island to notice if there is. Give me a minute before following.” He took off for the door that separated the two halves of the island, explaining what was going on to Xion while he did so.
Aqua took a deep breath, looking down at a spot on the beach beneath the bridge that connected the sparring area with the island proper. In her mind’s eye, she saw two little boys, unaware of what their future would hold.
She shifted her grip on Ven and smiled. It wouldn’t be long now.