EARTH / SHATTER.

     the confirmation only made the sinking feeling of guilt form in the very pit of his stomach. this man remembered him, despite it being years, but sora couldn’t even recall one solid memory. sure, he’d been nothing but a child but that did little to appease the gnawing sensation. and it very clearly showed in the expression he wore, eyes sinking to the ground under the weight.       ❛  i’m sorry. i can’t remember..  ❜ it was his greatest fear to be forgotten by the friends made along the journeys, and yet here he was. having forgotten someone from the past. but like every situation, there was a silver lining ; while his mind seemed to have omitted him from memory, the heart remembered clearly. ❛  but, i know you.  ❜ gloved hand rests atop beating heart, the disheartened expression shifting to one of hope, starting with a smile.      ❛  my name’s sora. i don’t think i’ve ever properly introduced myself!  ❜

     the sorrow on sora’s face when he realizes that he doesn’t remember him --- it confuses terra. he doesn’t know the boy very well; only pieces that he’s picked up from the others in their circle, mere patches to knit together the bigger picture. but from those, his memories of him through the eyes of another, and visions he holds from that fated day in the desert, he knows sora is a person who values his connections. people must mean a lot to him. 

     terra thinks he understands.

     his smile is genuine, soft at its edges. if sora knows him in his heart, that’s more than good enough for him.  ( he honestly wasn’t expecting anything; with what’s transpired in the past, with what he’s left to sora and his friends to clean up --- to be accepted and welcomed into his life is a greater gift than he could have begged for. )  terra nods, content.

    when terra first got to know kirishima, he had no idea the boy would become so important to him. he thought it would be a simple mentorship, just showing him the ropes on a couple of off-chance meetings — not someone that he would bond with and be seeing almost daily, and checking up on at the end of the day. kirishima is a special soul; having him in terra’s life sometimes makes things feel a little bit brighter.

    right now, actually, is an example of one of those brighter days, because seeing his helmet fall down kirishima’s face to cover his panic-stricken eyes has a warm laugh bubble up from his chest, his shoulders shaking with a happy chuckle. he steps up to the boy and fixes the helmet, lifting it up by the visor and rearranging it to sit decently-well on kirishima’s head.

sometimes i get rly sad because i think of like... how eraqus taught terra? how terra himself was raised? he was just repeatedly told you have to be strong over and over again thru strength of mind and body and heart and it drove terra to continually seek and pursue strength above all else. one of the biggest things that convinces terra to listen to xehanort is bc xeha promises him the darkness will make him strong and give him power. 

and then eraqus. fucking. has the GALL to just “you must know, i care for you like my own son. if i had my way, i would name you master in a second. but how can i, when you are so OBSESSED with power?”

❛ you best be keeping my future vessel in top shape terra. ❜ @breakearth​

     terra’s startled, for many reasons. the hair on the back of his neck stands up when he looks at this stranger who doesn’t quite feel like a stranger; this silver-haired mystery with secrets inside of secrets behind his eyes.

     it’s strange. there was a strong sense of familiarity to the stranger but that’s all sora knew the other as ; a stranger. there were no memories shared between them and yet… his heart ached as if the man before him was something akin to an old friend. it was strange. good thing the boy had no problems announcing that sensation to the world. ❛  um — have we met before? you feel… familiar.  ❜     @breakearth​    \   sc.

     he grew up so well.

     he’s strong. it’s funny ---- the boy that terra didn’t choose ended up being one of the biggest parts in saving them all. he has no regrets about his decision to pass his power onto riku, though; no regrets regarding his character, at least. there is some regret that comes with the passing of power, namely for the burden that was placed on a boy so young and new to the world, but terra gives that regret no purchase in his heart. because without them, where would they all be? still lost in total darkness ---- 

     still swaying in the empty abyss.