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Terra and Riku spar with their training keyblades, something that Terra made for the kids after they started training. Riku takes a risky gamble and it almost works, but Terra dodges just in the knick of time. He swipes Riku’s Keyblade out of his hand and slings Riku over his shoulder.
“Terra!” Riku fumes, trying to land a hit on Terra that will make him let Riku go.
Terra puts Riku down on his feet, then kneels down.
“You are going to make a great Keyblade Master one day, Riku,” Terra says with a smile.
Riku’s face lights up like a christmas tree, so Terra ruffles his hair.
“We should get to studying though. Physical strength isn’t the only thing that we need to be good at.”
“Today’s studying is about the Worlds, right?” Riku asks.
Terra nods, “I can help you with it if you find yourself struggling with something.”
Terra stands up straight and the two walk to Riku’s room to study. It only takes several minutes before something distracts them.
“Sora, come back here!” Aqua shouts.
Terra sees Sora running past, shortly followed by Aqua. Terra smiles, then turns his attention back to Riku, who’s also looking out the door.
“Focus on your reading,” Terra says gently.
Riku picks up the book again, but he doesn’t look happy.
“Why does Sora get to run around all of the time?” Riku asks.
“Because Aqua has a hard time keeping up with him, sometimes,” Terra answers. “Ven struggles with Kairi for other reasons.”
Ven’s been working on origami to give to Terra and Aqua while Kairi’s been doing her homework. He’s not been very successful, but he’s also been using it as a patience lesson for Kairi, which has been good. Even though he’s been having to remind himself of the lesson lately. Kairi’s been staring out of the window for the better part of thirty minutes. Ven’s been trying to give her some grace and only remind her occasionally that she has to get back to work, but she’s been ignoring him. Finally, he sighs and looks up.
“Come on, Kairi. I need you to focus on your studies,” Ven says.
Kairi’s staring out the window, watching Sora being chased by a very angry Aqua.
“You know what I want?” Kairi asks.
“To play outside?” Ven answers unsurely.
“I want to be able to go home someday. The place where my grandma lives,” Kairi answers, sighing.
“I know you have big dreams, but this stuff is important.”
Kairi turns to Ven. “Did you have to learn all of this stuff before going?”
“Yes, I did. I didn’t really remember it when I actually did go out but I did know it. Me not remembering is a large reason that Terra and Aqua had to save me.”
Kairi starts pouting, but she comes over to sit in her chair and picks her book back up.
“Thank you,” Ven says. “Now, do you want help?”
“Maybe once I’m done with the reading part.”
Aqua scoops Sora up and he starts laughing. All of the anger she had a moment ago melts away as she dangles him by his ankle, which only makes him laugh harder. She holds him properly for a moment, then puts him down on his feet with a hold of his hand.
“It’s time for studying,” Aqua says. “I know that you struggle with reading, so I’ll do the actual reading parts. Once you’re done, we can come out here and play. Does that sound like a fair deal?”
He nods, so they head on their way back to his room for studying. It takes a little longer since he keeps trying to escape once he learns that Kairi and Riku are outside, but they finally manage to get it done. Aqua lets him run and she walks to the training yard. Terra and Ven are already out there, sitting in the grass and talking. Aqua sits down beside them and Terra gives her a smile.
“Your terrorist actually finish his work for the day?”
Aqua nods, “Finally. It took forever and I’m exhausted from training and then having to run after him.”
“Maybe we should switch for a couple days,” Ven offers. “Make it a fun exercise for them.”
Terra shrugs, “Sounds like something that I would be up for.”
“Okay, maybe we can start that tomorrow,” Aqua says, “For now, let’s just enjoy them being able to act like kids.”