@heartoaths liked for a starter.
ENDLESS night shrouded this new world, the moon hanging stationary in the sky above. It had taken a text message on the phone she had been given for Aqua to fully shake off the belief that she was in the realm of darkness, yet anxiety still licked at the periphery of her mind. Stuck alone once more in a strange dark world, powerless and without a Keyblade… It was an uncomfortable likeness to a time she wished she could forget.
Yet even for all her wariness and being alert, some things were bound to be a surprise. Peering through the darkness, illuminated by moonlight, Aqua’s gaze locked on to a mess of unmistakable spiky brown hair– And upon recognition the breath seemed to be knocked straight out of her chest. Here? He was here? Without thinking, her footsteps carried her forward, straight towards the boy who might as well have been a ghost.
“ ━━ Sora?” Spoken timorously, and mostly to herself. One year of everyone searching across worlds, across realms, and all efforts turning up fruitless… Until now, in a place no one back home even knew existed. Heart pounding in her chest, the Keyblade Master repeated herself, louder and intended to catch his attention this time– She wanted to be sure it was him, desperate to know it wasn’t her mind playing tricks on her.
“Sora, is… Is it really you?”
He hears his name and thinks it’s the wind, or echoed memories probably playing tricks on him. It catches his attention enough either way, curious as the occurrence is. Hearing it again and a trailing question quickly erases any doubts. Sora doesn’t often linger and worry—has a hope and an optimism a little too strong for that, mind flickering to the best-case scenario near immediately.
It shocks him a little still though, causes him to turn with wide blinking eyes and a curious tilt to his head and slightly rising on the tips of his toes—all old habits he’s yet to break. He thought he was here alone, that much he was almost certain about. He didn’t want anyone getting caught and trapped trailing behind him, but maybe it’s more circumstantial than that; he isn’t sure exactly how things operate here yet. He’ll think about it later, really, because the moonlight shows him a familiar figure and that’s much more important now.
The sight of Aqua fills him with relief, a wide smile quickly stretching across his face. “Aqua!” He calls back with a jaunty wave, closes the short distance between them in steps that are more bounce than anything. “Yeah, it’s me and it’s you!” He nods, surer than can be; it wouldn’t do to make her worried with a halfhearted answer. “What’re you doing here though? Not that I’m not glad to see you because I’m really glad, but you know...? It’s just surprising.”
