MY NAME IS MASTER AQUA.

HUB RULES.

NOTES.

THE HUB.

@devenior​ said: “i can barely breathe, it hurts so bad!” from here.

‘ ven !! ’ 

she’s quick to run to his side  ,  dropping to her knees to hold him closer.  she doesn’t look at who struck him  ,  can’t bring herself to without seeing the face of her friend  ,  features drawn into a  cruel  smile.  it makes her stomach turn  &  she quickly shakes her head  ,  clearing the thought from her mind.

no  ,  she thinks  ,  terra would never hurt ven  .

she turns her gaze to ven after a moment  ,  hands  trembling  at the sight of it.  his shirt is stained  red  ,  &  aqua  hesitates  from her fear.  she’d never seen something this bad before  ,  &  to know it was someone she  loved  made her heart ache.  carefully  ,  her trembling hand takes one of ven’s  &  squeezes it tightly  ,  eyes watering as he other hand presses as  gently  as she can on his wound.

‘ i know.  but you’ll be alright, i promise. ’ 

quietly  ,  she casts a few  curagas  in succession  ,  knowing it wouldn’t be enough to  completely  heal him  ,  but it’s better than nothing  ,  better than letting him  die  .

she couldn’t imagine the  heartbreak  terra would carry for that  ,  could barely imagine trying to carry her own grief. 

@vancorius​ said: “ you should’ve ended me while you still had the chance . ” lost meme.

‘ i could. ’ 

she  won’t  ,  they both know she won’t.  &  at this point  ,  maybe she  couldn’t  .  she cares too much  &  can’t  quite  pinpoint why.  it’s not as though he’s been particularly  nice  to her  ,  he hasn’t really  reciprocated  her attempts to reach out  ,  &  that’s fine.  it’s not as though she’d be  deterred  by something like that.

‘ but i won’t. ’ 

she  can’t  ,  not really.  if she destroyed him  ,  it would feel  wrong  ,  as if she believed he couldn’t change.  that would mean giving up on  herself  as well  ,  &  for the sake of her  friends  ,  she couldn’t really do that.  if she killed him  ,  she’d be admitting that he couldn’t change  ,  &   by extent  ,  that perhaps she  hadn’t  .

but it’s not so much like that.  she’s not as  cruel  as to use him to make herself feel better.  no  ,  somehow...aqua  cares  about vanitas  ,  something she doubts  either  of them expected.  but she doesn’t put up such a front around him  ,  whether he’s noticed or  cares  that much to notice.  even if he doesn’t  ,  she doesn’t feel like she  has  to  ,  &  that’s probably for the better.

she loves ven  &  terra  ,  but she can’t  stand  to let them see her any way but how they knew her  ,  if only more  remorseful  .

she doesn’t let them see the  bitter  ,  the  anger  ,  the  pain  that clings to her ribs  &  gnaws  at the bone.

@vancorius​ said: ❝ don’t you dare look at me like everything’s okay . ❞

‘ how do you think i should look at you, then ?? ’ 

her voice doesn’t hold any malice or edge  ,  no hint of venom or poison.  she’s simply  curious  .  he arms are tucked around her knees where she sits  ,  cheek against her leg as she turns to look at him.  she doesn’t hate him  ,  isn’t angry with him.

if anything  ,  he makes her a little sad.

perhaps  ,  aqua thinks  ,  out of all xehanort’s victims  ,  vanitas was the saddest.  xehanort’s cruelty was all he’d known  ,  not kindness or friendship or  love  .  it made her a bit sad to think what a life like that must’ve been like.  it’s why she can’t blame him for the hurt he caused  ,  the things he said or did.

it wasn’t his fault that pain  &  suffering were all he knew.

‘ and...maybe everything’s not okay, not yet.  i know terra....isn’t quite so comfortable with you, and...maybe he never will be.  maybe none of us will ever really be okay.  we’ll all be carrying something with us, probably for the rest of our lives. ’ 

she shifts where she sits slightly  ,  placing one hand between them on the ground  ,  an offer  ,  a  bridge  if he wanted it. 

‘ ....but that doesn’t mean we have to do it alone.  not if you don’t want to. ’ 

a sigh leaves her  ,  a brief  sadness  flashes across her face  ,  but she doesn’t move her hand  ,  not yet.

@devenior​ said: ❝ i know you got my back and you know i got you. ❞

‘ of course. ’ 

aqua lets herself  smile  at that  ,  take the warmth he’s offering  &  hide it away somewhere she could find it later  ,  keep it safe.  she sometimes feels  uneasy  around him  ,  less so than she does with  terra  ,  not that she loves him any less.  but she’s not  blind  ,  to the rift her actions  &  words caused nor to the  pain  all of them carry.  but right now  ,  she doesn’t let herself dwell on her regrets  ,  on all the reasons ven shouldn’t forgive her.

sometimes  ,  she thinks  ,  it’s just  nice  to be forgiven  ,  to be  loved  .

@hercbled said: Touch me, aqua maybe fingers   --   friendship/amicable hip   --   interest shoulder   --   worry/concern for the other/fear

he doesn’t look like the  boy  she remembered  ,  that much aqua notices on first glance.  so much  time  has passed her by  ,  it didn’t affect  her  but it  did  everyone else.  she smiles  ,  just a small one  ,  as her hand is raised to reach out.

briefly  ,  her fingers brush against his own  ,  she nearly  jerks  back at the feeling.  it’s been so  long  since she’d been able to touch  ,  ben able to  feel  much of anything  ,  the sensation was somewhat jarring.  fingertips brush along his side on the way up  ,  over his hip  ,  before her hand stops on his shoulder.  she has to look up a bit at him  ,  just a little  ,  &  she smiles when she speaks  ,  letting her hand linger.