Chapter Text
You are hereby, cordially invited to the union of Cinderella and Prince Charming
Terra stared at the invitation in his hand. The cardstock was thick and creamy and very pleasant to hold. The print was in gold foil, glinting in the light under the sun of Radiant Garden. The sound of rushing water filled the air.
"A wedding," he postulated stiffly, "must be nice."
"You've decided you're not going," Aqua assumed. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he wasn't invited at all.
She had received the same invitation and it had been sitting with the King for about a decade before it reached her hands. All Aqua could conceive was that time flowed differently in other worlds.
Ten years for Aqua and the others could be as little as ten weeks or months.
Despite leaving the Castle of Dreams ages ago, it was as if they were hardly gone for more than a year.
King Mickey gave them Aqua invitations as a way of getting them acclimated to bring back in the world of light. A gesture of good will, even.
"How could I?" Terra asked. "I don't think I could face Cinderella knowing what I did."
'Terra..." Aqua refrained from showing much pity on her face, knowing how much Terra hated it as she hated it too.
Terra held up a hand to silence her. "I know what you're going to say. There's only so many times and different ways I can hear it. Trust me, I know. But the guilt is still there."
Aqua drew in a careful breath. It was nice to have Terra back, but he was as difficult as ever. In the back of her mind, she knew that it was impossible to hope for some things to remain the same.
Ventus too, had changed to some degree. He would mope around a lot, having lost many years of his life to slumber. It was for his own good, yet here he was, a young boy in a world unfamiliar to him.
"I think that Cinderella would be more disappointed that you didn't show up," Aqua said softly. She drew back slightly, touching a hand to Terra's arm. "Think about it."
She felt his muscles tense, flexing against her fingertips.
And for once, she couldn't tell if it was because of him or if it was because of her.
✿♡✿
Aqua took off and met up with Ventus, she thought that she could convince him to talk to Terra and see if he could goad him into going to the wedding. But to her surprise, Ventus' response was underwhelming.
"Why do you care so much?"
Aqua blinked twice in succession. "What?"
"I mean... It's just a wedding, he doesn't have to go," Ventus reasoned.
The two of them were sat for ice cream at the local cafe and Aqua's was melting in her paper cup. The bottom was practically a puddle of vanilla mush.
When Aqua said nothing, Ventus quickly amended his statement. "Not that it is bad to want to go, it could be nice for Terra to get back out in society. At least give his first time a retry anyway."
The three of them were rather detached from growing up in the World of Departure. Their stints outside their comfort zones varied. Ventus had a decent time and for the most part, so did Aqua. It would have been enjoyable had it not been for chasing after Terra.
Aqua suppressed a sigh. "And you?" she asked, spinning the conversation onto Ventus. "What're you doing to get back out there?"
"I uh... Spend time with Kairi." Ventus shoveled ice cream into his mouth. "I help her out with her keyblade training sometimes. Especially since Lea got Roxas and Xion back, it's just awkward for her. I guess we just have that in common. Being awkward."
Ventus didn't bring it up but Sora's absence hung over their heads like a thick cloud.
Aqua cleared her throat, swallowing her emotions. For now, Ventus still needed her to be strong for him. He was still so young.
"I'm glad she has you," she said gently. "It's good that you two are friends. You need it."
Ventus had spent so long inside Sora's heart, they were practically kin without realizing it. With Sora gone, Ventus lost a part of himself.
"Come to the wedding with me," Aqua said suddenly.
Ventus looked up from his ice cream, eyes wide.
"I know that Cinderella doesn't exactly know that you were there, but since Terra doesn't plan on going, maybe you could come with?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "Didn't know I was there?" Ventus echoed. "She thought I was a mouse! Besides, I made a promise to Kairi for that day. I can't just bail."
Aqua felt a twinge of disappointment. Ventus wouldn't exactly say what that promise was, but she wouldn't pry. Whatever it was, it was important to him.
Despite it all, Ventus was having a life outside of them.
This was a great thing, in fact, Aqua should be ecstatic for him.
So why wasn't she?
Sure, Sora was missing and Riku took Namine to search for him to the far reaches of who-knows-where and Kairi threw herself into her training— but Xehanort was defeated.
They're all reunited, bar Sora.
Things should be great.
Aqua stood up from her seat, causing the chair legs to squeak on the ground. "I'll go by myself then," she said suddenly."
"Aqua—"
"I have to go back to the hotel room to figure out what to wear."
✿♡✿
While more permanent lodgings were still being taken into consideration, Aqua and the others stayed at a hotel in Radiant Garden. All the expenses were taken care of by King Mickey for the time being. He didn't want to have the friends separated for a while, but as non keyblade masters, Terra and Ventus might have to be stationed elsewhere until they reach master status.
Aqua was to be the main protector of Radiant Garden.
Meaning that at some point, she would be all alone again.
Aqua's throat swelled up as tears fought their way out of her ducts.
She couldn't really argue with Master Yen Sid when it came to the matters of keyblade training. Terra was given another chance to retake his Mark of Mastery and Ventus had yet to take his.
She was a Master now and masters had responsibilities.
Aqua worried that she might not have been healing fast enough in a socially appropriate way. Everyone looked up to her, so it was her duty to carry their worries on her shoulders.
No, that wasn't right. She shouldn't be doing that, she should know better than that. It wasn't healthy.
At least, that's what Aqua told herself.
She had worked herself up into such a tizzy that she didn't even realize that she had pulled all her clothes out of the draws and onto the floor.
Garments were draped over almost every surface.
Aqua gave a great sigh and stooped down to start picking up when she heard a knock at the door. Aqua hesitated. She didn't want anyone to see the mess she created, she wasn't a messy person at all.
"Aqua? Are you there? It's Terra."
She couldn't let Terra see.
Would he care?
Aqua chewed on her lower lip, weighing her options. She could ignore the knock and pretend she's not in or she could answer. If she answers she could step outside, but it would be obvious she was hiding something.
Terra would knock again. "Aqua?"
"Y-Yes! Just a second!"
She whinced. Why did she say anything? She should've just kept quiet until he left. Now she was obligated to let him inside.
Aqua tiptoed around her clothes and slunk towards the door in shame. With bated breath, she turned the handle and opened it just a crack.
Terra raised his brows in question.
Aqua felt flush. "I'm sorry... The place is a mess."
Terra placed his hand through the crack and onto the door. "You know that never bothered me, can we just talk?"
Her eyes darted between his hand and face. Terra didn't move once, but he made it clear that one way or another— sooner or later— they were going to end up talking.
"Okay." Aqua stilled her lungs and opened the door wide enough for Terra to come in.
His eyes avoided looking at the clothes as to save Aqua the embarrassment, but it only made it worse. Her ears were hot with shame.
"Aqua," Terra began, leveling his gaze with hers. "I'm sorry."
"Is this about the wedding? You don't have to go Terra." Aqua hastily began stuffing her clothes back into the hotel draws. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to."
"But I want to."
"I get it, you don't feel that you're ready to face anyone yet. We'll just take things slow and—"
Terra grabbed her arm. His fingers firmly wrapped around her bicep. His touch was warm.
"Aqua," he said again, lending his tone towards irritation. "I want to go with you. I should've seen it before." Terra then softened and loosened up his grip, letting his hand linger. "You wanted to do something together. You want to go and I'd hate for you to go alone. So I'll go."
Aqua's breath hitched in her throat.
Terra presented his other hand and unfurled it, revealing the Wayfinder that Aqua had crafted for him so long ago. It dangled from his splayed fingers. "I don't want to go anywhere where you're not," he said. "Not anymore."
Her mind was racing. She had so much to say and yet the words were caught in her throat.
"Okay," Aqua said simply, a soft smile played on her lips.
"Where's your Wayfinder?" he asked her.
"Oh, uh—" Aqua scanned the floor and picked it up in a hurry. She couldn't believe that in her frenzy, she had been so careless with it. Aqua held it close to her chest. "I have it right here."
Terra held out his free hand, gesturing for Aqua's Wayfinder.
Hesitantly, Aqua gave it to him. Much to her surprise, he gave her his.
"Just in case we every get separated again—" Terra pause and rectified his statement midway, "—and I'm not saying that we will, but just for insurance... We're just borrowing them so they we could give them back to each other."
"Borrowing," Aqua echoed.
"Yes."
Aqua held up Terra's Wayfinder to her face.
"I like that."