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"Aqua?"
There was a gasp and a panicked look, followed by a bright flash of light and the sound of glass shattering. Terra recoiled and shielded his eyes until the light dimmed, looking around frantically as they adjusted to the faint moonlight trickling into Aqua's room.
"Aqua!" Terra threw the door open and rushed inside, hoping his friend was unharmed. "What happened?"
"Ungh..." A moan came from the figure draped over the bed. Aqua sat up, looking more dazed than Terra, and began patting around her own body. "Did it work...?"
"Did what work?" Terra asked, his vision clearing and showing several old, tattered books laid open across the bedspread. Shards of glass were scattered to and fro, crunching underfoot as he approached her.
"The..." Aqua paused. "The-- Nothing!"
"It's not nothing. Your mirror's broken."
"It doesn't matter, just go!"
"Not yet. Are you hurt? Let me help."
"I'm fine! Get out!"
"Should I get Master Er--"
"No! Don't tell him anything, just..."
Aqua's voice trailed off as her hands touched her jawline.
"What...?"
She lunged to the floor, feeling around for a large enough chunk of broken mirror to examine her face. She fell silent, trembling.
"H-hey," Terra was growing increasingly concerned and confused. "Careful with that. You might..."
Aqua looked up at him with tears in her eyes, and a rather larger chin than she'd had previously.
"You messed it up..." She whimpered. "You threw me off, you made me do it wrong. You screwed it all up!"
"I...you..." Terra was at a loss for words, utterly bewildered but devastated by guilt nonetheless. "I... I'm sorry. I can fix it. What did I do? I'll undo it. We... I can undo it, right?"
"No!" Aqua snapped, throwing the shard across the room and burying her face in her hands. "I don't know! I don't know..."
"Terra?"
Their master's voice echoed down the hall, and Aqua's eyes widened. Terra turned towards the door and Aqua grabbed his wrist, her look of pained anger now one of fear. Fear and pleading.
Terra had only seen that look a few times previous, but he knew exactly what it meant. He held his objections and nodded.
"Get in bed."
Master Eraqus peered into Terra's bedroom, finding it empty. Terra's voice called to him from the next room over.
"What's all the commotion?" The master asked as he approached. "The two of you should be in bed at this hour."
"I know, Master. I'm sorry. Aqua was just..."
Terra paused and glanced back at his friend, sat up in bed with her head curled up between her knees.
"We were... just cleaning some things, and I tripped and uh... sort of broke his mirror. I'm cleaning it up now."
Eraqus raised an eyebrow. "I see... Are you injured? Is he?"
"No!" Terra quickly answered. We're fine, Master. And we're being careful, don't worry."
"You know, it's better to do these things during the daytime."
"I know, Master. Uh..." Terra scratched his head. "We were going to, but-- well, we were pretty busy today. Training and all that. Guess it slipped our minds. Heh..."
The corner of his master's mouth curled up in a fond smile.
"...Alright. Well, return to your dorm as soon as you're finished, Terra. Don't take too long. And try to make less noise, if you can. Let Aqua show you some of his tricks!"
"Of course, Master!" Terra bowed, trying to ignore the slight sting from that last sentence. "Sorry for waking you, Master! Goodnight, Master."
Eraqus chuckled as he turned to walk away. "You know you don't need to be so formal all the time, my boy. Goodnight to you both."
"R-right! Sorry, Ma-- uh. Goodnight!" He stepped back inside Aqua's room and closed the door softly, with a deep sigh of relief.
"Can't believe he bought that," Aqua murmured without looking up.
"...Yeah," Terra sighed. He stepped carefully across the floor and sat on the edge of the bed beside Aqua, reached a hand out towards her. Paused, hesitated, fingers curled a little. Then withdrew it, placed both in his lap and stared at the floor.
"S-sorry," he tried to think of anything to say. "About the mirror, and... and whatever I did there."
No response. He looked towards the foot of the bed and pulled back the blanket that had been hastily thrown over it to conceal the books.
"...You've been in the library a lot lately, huh?"
Aqua nodded. Didn't look up.
"Some of them look really old. Are these..." He lowered his voice. "...Are these from the restricted section?"
"...Some of them." Her voice wavered a touch.
"How'd you get in there?" He asked in amazement, picking up one of the older books and getting a headache from the first page of bizarre symbols. He placed it down again with a grunt. "...That room's been sealed off!"
"Found a book about it."
"...Huh."
Terra blinked, impressed. Then he frowned, disappointed.
"Then why?" He asked. "You know we're not allowed in there. If the master finds out, we'll both be in trouble!"
"He won't find out," Aqua snapped back, her eyes peeking up just slightly to scowl at him. They were reddened, wet. "Listen to the master, Terra. Get out already!"
Terra met her gaze, taken aback. "Huh? ...No, not yet! Not until I clean up the mess I made."
Aqua huffed and summoned her keyblade, swished it around a bit like a conductor's baton without moving from her spot. A few small flashes and sparks of white magic dashed and danced across the floor, lifting the pieces of broken glass off the ground and placing them back into place in the mirror frame, one by one. Then mirror itself glowed one last time on completion and the cracks sealed shut, as though they'd never formed at all. Terra sat and stared slack jawed at all of it, of course.
"When did you learn to do that?! Master Eraqus never taught us that! That's amazing!"
"Book." Her answer was both flat and sharp. "Now get out."
She reached for the blanket and pulled it over her, turning on her side away from Terra. Terra frowned again, remorsefully this time, and sighed.
"Aqua..."
He reached his hand out again. This time, confidently placing it on Aqua's shoulder. No hesitation.
"That's not the only mess I meant. Let me help you. Let me fix what I did."
Against her better judgement, the hand actually helped some. Aqua sighed again and, uncurling herself at last, stared slowly up towards Terra to bare her face again.
"You can't fix this."
Terra stared for more than a second.
"...Looks like my chin," he concluded.
"Augh!" Aqua groaned in frustration and turned away again.
"W-what? I--!" Terra frowned and placed a hand on his own jaw. What's wrong with it? "...L-look, it's fine. I can fix it!"
"How are you gonna fix it?" Aqua scowled at him, frustrated as she ever was with him. "Tell me."
"I--It's..."
Terra thought for a moment. A rare event, that.
"...It's in one of these books!" He declared with more confidence than he'd earned.
"You can't fix it," Aqua sighed and looked away again, "You haven't studied it."
Terra paused.
"Alright, teach me then."
Aqua looked shocked for a moment, before sighing again.
"No. These things are restricted for a reason. Don't go getting yourself in trouble just for something stupid like this."
"I mean..." Terra scratched his head. "What *is* the reason?"
"Well," Aqua began, then paused. Then huffed, and waved her hands dismissively like the answer should be so obvious. "It's, like... Y'know! It's really old magic, it's dangerous. Forbidden. And...stuff. You already know this!"
Terra raised an eyebrow. "Well, it can't be that dangerous in your hands, anyway. You're great with magic! I mean, you just did all... that." He jabbed a thumb towards the mirror. "Like it was nothing!"
"Exactly," Aqua countered, "I barely even know what I'm doing. Look what happened."
"But that was my fault, wasn't it?"
"...No," she looked away again, "I was just upset. You distracted me, that's all. It was just bad timing."
So that's a yes, Terra figured. He frowned.
"Can't I just... help? Somehow?"
"No, Terra." This conversation was exhausting Aqua now. "Just go to bed and stay out of this. The Master's going to be upset with me enough already... It's better I don't drag his favourite down with me too. We don't both need to sit through another one of his "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" lectures."
"Pfft. Wait... Favourite?"
Terra couldn't believe what he'd heard. He couldn't contain his chuckle either.
"C'mon, Aqua! You and I both know that's not true. There's no way you're not gonna become a master before me. I mean, look at all this!" He waved his arm around, gesturing vaguely to the entire room. "The mirror! All the books, t-the studying-- it's amazing! You're so much more advanced than me! If anyone's his 'favourite' here, it's you. You're..."
He scrambled for the words to continue. "You're faster, you're stronger, you're smarter... and I don't want to say more dedicated but, well... Every morning I think I'll get to the training yard before you, and yet..."
Aqua kept her face down to conceal her blushing, feeling guilty all of her previous yelling and insulting had been met with nothing but compliments. I don't know why I expected any different.
A number of conflicting feelings, among them fear, loved to dance in her gut from time to time. Particularly when with company.
I'm not the favourite.
Her eyes darted off to the side. He always favoured you. You're more like a son to him than I could ever be.
Terra leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
"Honestly? Some days I'm amazed I can keep up with you at all," he confessed. "I mean, I'm always doing my best, but even my best is second-rate. That's why I want to get stronger."
Aqua poked her head up, again just slightly, in surprise. Huh?
"It's the only way I feel like I could match you."
"You're... pretty strong already, Terra. Way stronger than me!" Aqua tried to slip in a little laugh to meet Terra's mood halfway, but now it sounded like his was gone.
"No, Aqua," he replied, "I'm not. Not really... Not in a way that matters. If I'm really the master's 'favourite', then he must be going blind."
The moonlight caught the fresh tears filling Aqua's eyes.
"Whoa. Sorry, I didn't mean to..." He watched Aqua curl in on herself again and twist a little bit away from him. What did I say?
"Hey, hey..." There he was feeling awkwardly upset at himself again, reaching out a hand to his friend and not exactly knowing where to place it. He opted to lay it on her arm while thinking of what he could possibly say next that would help.
"Listen...It doesn't even matter, right? We're both his pupils. And we're both gonna become keyblade masters thanks to him. He loves the both of us, Aqua. You know that. He always says we're like sons to him, right?"
Aqua flinched. She pulled away from him again, curling in tighter. Terra lifted his hand in reaction.
"Wait," a thought occurred to him, "is that what this is about?"
Aqua's eyes widened.
"...Is what?"
Terra smiled playfully. "The chin thing. Are you trying to use magic to... look bigger?"
Aqua blinked, speechless.
"What."
"Like me!" Terra stood and flexed his arms. "Trying to give yourself some more muscle mass? Make it look like you've been working out even harder than before. You think you'll be seen as more dedicated with a more rugged jawline, huh?"
"Terra..."
"Gotta say I'm flattered, but you really don't have to go that far. I told you you're leagues ahead of me already!"
"Terra, that's not what I'm doing."
"It's better to be yourself. Guys like you and me just have different metabolisms and stuff! You're already pretty buff for a beanpole."
"A what? Terra..."
"If you haven't outpaced me by now, then maybe it just... wasn't meant to be, y'know? Don't worry about it! He's not gonna think you're any less his son than me just because--"
"I'm not his son!" Aqua snapped at last. "I'm..."
Terra just shook his head, and sat beside her again. "Of course you are! Not literally of course, but you know what he means by it. You--"
"I'm not a boy."
Her voice was quieter, shaking. She curled up tighter.
Terra paused and blinked, completely thrown off now. "Wh...Huh?"
"I'm not a boy," she repeated with a sob, breathing unsteady. There, I said it.
Terra stared, silent and expressionless, at the trembling... student? before him as a few old, dusty cogs tried to tick in his mind. Realising he'd completely failed to read the room, he decided to trust his gut and follow his instinctual response to the sound of crying, placing his hand lightly over Aqua's. That seemed like the right thing to do.
It provoked a gentle response, at least. Aqua peered up slowly at the hand near her eyes, following it up, still afraid to look him in the eye. But when she did, she realised his face was blank and clueless as ever. She'd have laughed if she weren't so scared.
Terra had a small few possible questions to ask, but opted finally for the one he felt would give the simplest answer.
"...Okay. So, what are you then?"
Now Aqua blinked.
Coming from anyone else, anyone at all, Aqua thought, that question could never come across as sincere. There'd always be a veneer of implied disgust.
But from Terra... He didn't have an unkind bone in his body. Maybe a little mean at times, but never mean-spirited. If anyone could be trusted with a secret like this, it was him.
And that did make her laugh. And blush, and look away once again.
"What?" Terra asked. "I'm serious, I want to know."
"I know," Aqua replied through a sob and a laugh and a sniff and a wipe of her tears on her sleeve. "I know you do. Only you really would." Didn't mean to say that part out loud.
Terra cocked his head, apparently not noticing. "Are you... a girl, then?"
Not very tactful. Aqua sighed, and nodded, tried to hide her face again. "...Yeah."
Another beat of silence.
"...Huh. Okay." Terra leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling, pondering this new development and what it meant. Aqua got the joy of sitting in blissful, agonising silence in anticipation of either approval or rejection, until Terra finally had the perfect follow-up question.
"How come?"
Aqua blinked. "Huh?"
"Like..." Terra shook his head. "I... Sorry, I mean. I'm just... I don't know, what does that feel like? You got me curious."
Aqua tilted her head and stared at him.
"It's... not bad, I guess?" She answered.
"Yeah?"
"Well. It's hard to put into words... I guess it's nice, sometimes. Felt good to figure it out... Most of the time it scares me, though."
"Scares you?"
"Like, what people would think...I don't know how I could ever tell Master Eraqus. I don't know how I'm telling you."
"That's because we tell each other everything!"
"No, you don't get it. It's not... This isn't like other stuff. I didn't know how you'd react. I wasn't ready."
For a moment, Terra felt hurt. She didn't trust him? How could she think that about him?
But he kept that inside. Maybe she was right, this was different. Terra still didn't understand, might never. But he wanted to. Reacting negatively wouldn't help with that.
"Well..." he rubbed the back of his neck while thinking of what to say next. "...You're telling me now. Are you still scared?"
He threw her a cocky grin, hoping it might cheer her up. Aqua looked back at him.
"...Kinda," she winced, and his face fell again. Darn it.
Aqua hid her face again. Terra rubbed his neck again. The two fell into uncomfortable silence. Again.
What do I do here? What do I say? What would he-- What would she want? What do girls like? Am I thinking about this properly?
He looked at the apparent girl, quietly quivering beside him.
If I were a girl, what would I want right now?
He looked down at his arms.
...I'd want someone I care about to hold me with their large muscles. That would feel nice. Everyone likes that!
Trouble was, he remembered the only other time they'd done that. It was years ago. He remembered he hugged Aqua and Aqua panicked and pushed him away.
He remembered because he'd felt lousy about it ever since. And ever since, he would move to hug her only to pull away immediately, going instead for a high five or Dudely Chest Bump. He always felt lousy whenever he upset his only friend, unintentionally or not.
...But this is different, right? Maybe this time is okay. Just ask.
He pulled his legs up onto the bed and sat cross-legged, directly opposite Aqua.
"Hey."
Aqua looked up to see his arms outstretched in offering.
"Want a hug?"
Aqua tensed. Hug this?
Terra gave that warm, hopeful smile of his. That smile that said No matter how much it sucks, no matter how little I understand, at least we can have this. At least I can do this for you. It was somewhere between an encouragement to allow his support, and a plea to just let him provide support. Let him be useful in this way, at least, if nothing else was viable.
Rather self-deprecating to be sure, but maybe not inaccurate in this case. Maybe not unwanted either.
...Fuck it. Aqua looked down from his gaze and nodded.
Sure enough, being held and comforted by Terra was all she'd dreamed it would be. It was warm, and it was welcoming, and it was Terra. It was always Terra. Nobody else could be Terra. Her ever-present hyper-vigilance was the one thing that kept Aqua from whimpering in relief. That sense of shame always did win out in the end, but it didn't matter because Terra was holding her. Terra was accepting her. Terra still cared for her. Nothing else mattered right now.
Aqua threw her own arms around Terra's back and hid her face in his chest. More tears flowed. Happy or sad, it wasn't clear.
"Feel better?" Terra asked.
A few seconds passed and he got a muffled "maybe" in reply. He smiled as he rubbed his hands in circles on her back.
"Alright," it was time to return to the issue at hand. "What do we do now?"
"Um..." Aqua was unsure. Terra pulled away so he could look her in the eye.
"Are you ready to give it another try?" He asked. "Or would, uh... Would the slight hiccup there be a problem for that?"
Aqua blushed again and returned her arms to their crossed position over her knees, so she could resume hiding her face behind them.
"No, it.... That shouldn't affect anything. That's... Don't worry about it."
"It's because I threw off your concentration, isn't it?" Terra sighed. "Don't worry, I get it. I'll leave the room so you can focus easier."
Terra stood up from the bed to leave and Aqua grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Wait."
This maneuver wasn't exactly something Aqua was in a habit of doing, but it sure felt like she'd moved on instinct. To Terra, it just felt surprising. And kinda cute?
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Uh..." She faltered.
You can stay if you like.
"Y-yeah. Just..." She took her hand back and rubbed her eyes a bit, drying her tears. "...Thanks. Thank you. For.... Y'know. Uh... For being cool with it. With... with it. Thanks."
Terra smiled, a little confused but happy. "No problem. I'll see you in the morning, okay? No matter what happens."
"...Yeah," was all Aqua thought to say before a "goodnight."
"Goodnight," Terra responded before walking out of Aqua's room at last and closing the door behind him.
Aqua stayed in her spot for a few moments, before slowly climbing off the bed and standing before her mirror again. She frowned at her new chin, then closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Inhaled, exhaled, repeated, focusing on one thing. The mirror began to glow again. Her heart was glowing too, brighter this time.
---
"Where is he?" Master Eraqus demanded an answer of the morning wind, but mostly of his other student. "I told you both to save your cleaning for daytime!"
"Y-yes, Master Eraqus!" Terra stopped paused his stretching exercises to stand straight and bow to his master. "Aqua should be here soon, don't worry. We..."
He tried to think of another way to cover for last night. Luckily he didn't have to think for long before he saw a head of blue hair appear from behind the hills.
"There! See?"
"Ah, Aqua. Good of you to join--"
Eraqus was cut off by his own surprise as he peered at his pupil's new appearance, and the other two fell equally silent. The girl from petrifying fear, the boy rather smitten.
"...G-good morning," Aqua managed a polite greeting in a voice that was definitely different, but distinctly familiar enough for Eraqus to regain his own composure.
"Uh... Good morning, Aqua! You look..." He fumbled.
"Really cute," Terra whispered.
"Huh?" Aqua looked up at him.
"I said you're late!" Terra's cover-up answer was impressively quick for him. "I knew I'd beat you to morning training one of these days." He smirked and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you're slipping on me?"
Come on, just play along. We'll talk to him about it later.
Eraqus looked back and forth between them, then gave a weary sigh of defeat.
"He's right, Aqua," he chimed in, to the surprise of both students. "That is quite unusual for you! Surely you're not falling behind in your training?"
"Uh... N-no, Master, I never miss training! I swear!" Aqua bowed, grunting and coughing a few times as she assessed how her new vocal chords sat in her new throat.
"Oh yeah? Prove it." This response came from Terra, who summoned his keyblade into one arm and flexed the other. "You ready to spar?"
Aqua turned back to him. The two smiled at each other. Terra's smile, simple and purely genuine. Aqua's, deeply grateful and sincere, and a lot more emotionally charged than she was about to admit. She summoned her own keyblade and struck her usual battle pose.
I'm more ready than I've ever been.