#worldsconnected

Hope, for her friends, hope for the future, she believed in the day she could leave this black glob of depression. Go back to smiling faces, and bright twinkling eyes. After all the time she had been fighting, Aqua had almost forgotten how to smile. How could a human being forget one of the most sentimental things we do? A simple act of kindness, a stretch of a muscle towards your eye. That little thing can make someone smile back, maybe even brighten their day. Because someone noticed, they noticed, they weren’t okay.

She ran from the torn apart town to the black waters that pushed forward softly onto the colourless sand of the beach. It seemed the darkness consumed places too, because one day there was a small island out across the shore. Aqua remembered two boys, best of friends, and smiles full of light. A small brunet with bright blue eyes filled to the brim with curiosity and another boy, not so much older but bigger, stronger maybe. What happened to those boys? Had they fallen into darkness, or had they somehow escaped to another world free from harm?

Walking along the shore her boot pressed in the sand for the first time since falling Aqua felt at home. The island settled her nerves and wrapped her in its ghost like warm breeze.

“How long have I been away?” and as she spoke sand fell through her fingers as if it answered her question. Clenching her hand around her empty palm she looked out from the shore. She needed to be free, to see her friends and to live up to her master’s name.

“I need to stop running away, I have to face the darkness or this will never end!” She summoned the keyblade and felt the rush of Eraqus’s will flow through her being. Around her the island was falling to pieces, each of them crumbling like ash. It was like the land of departure was breaking all over again but this time it was for a new dawn. Aqua wasn’t going to give up, she wasn’t going to fight to survive, she was going to fight to live.

The shattered pieces turned into the globs, crawling black things with glowing yellow eyes, they hissed and twitched towards Aqua, noticing her presence, her keyblade. She could feel her pulse build its once steady beat becoming erratic with adrenaline.

“Come on! I’ve had enough!” Aqua screamed with every emotions she locked away, the sadness, heartache, loneliness, it burst at the seams as she shouted and dashed towards shadows. She slashed left and then her body moved gracefully into a cartwheel as one moved to slice at her leg. She cut through it with vigour and as more approached, Aqua noticed there were building together, pressing their wispy bodies to create one giant heartless. It towered above her like a skyscraper, and around her only a tiny piece of the island was left.

Aqua had seen this heartless before, but this one was different more menacing, its glowing yellow eyes bor into her as if, she, was what it was looking for. She could feel her eyes narrowing, her hand gripping harder onto the keyblade she held. Running toward it she remained silent because in her heart she could feel Ven and Terra. There hearts egging her on, that she was a keyblade master, she could do anything she believed in.   

It reached for her limber body but she cartwheeled away letting her own weight move her close to its arm, she jumped on the appendage and slashed at its shoulder before she lost her footing and fell. Lying flat on her back she lost her breath, winded and stared up at the dark creature. Her mind felt heavy, she could feel blood dripping down from her brow and see the heartless reaching for her again.

Aqua squeezed her eyes shut, she could feel tears brimming under her eyelids but before the hand swept her into the dark. It vanished, with a spark and someone’s lonely heart flying away, and standing strong above her was Terra, with a small smile on his face. He looked the same, strong shoulders and mud brown hair.

“Terra..” She choked smiling and for but all she got was a look filled with hope,

“Don’t lose faith Aqua, the time to escape is coming soon, just keep fighting, Okay? And don’t forget to smile.” His voice, she had forgotten how it sounded and now it was sweet and kind, but like a whisper in the wind he was gone.

 She had to keep faith, for her friends, for the world. It was going to be okay, maybe not now, and maybe not tomorrow, but someday, someday things were going to be okay again. In time she would be able to go back home, restore the land of departure and be the keyblade master the world’s needed. All she had to do was believe, and time would make things okay.

The Shadows leap at her—she examines her surroundings as if in slow

motion. She protects her weapon behind her back with a look on the edge of

disinterest.

Aqua shields herself and a reflective barrier, knocking the

enemies back. She spirals into the air and delivers a hard shot of ice spikes,

flailing out in every direction, impaling Heartless into splinter.

It’s been like this day in and day out. Slashing purebred

Heartless, ducking and diving, keeping eyes stationed on the back of her head,

it had all become second-nature. A necessity for survival. How long would this

go on for?

“Farewell!” She casts a spell of Firaga Burst, summoning a large

sphere of inferno into the air. She lifts her Keyblade, commanding a flurry of

fireballs to rain down on her enemies.

She’s going easy on them.

After wiping the area clean of any heart devouring critters, Aqua catches her breath and desists her weapon. It was a repeated cycle. Endless and aimless walking that leaves her legs numb to each step, discharging her Keyblade and sufficiently disposing of a countless number of Heartless... was there even a point anymore? What exactly is she searching for?

She practically drags her body down the damp path ahead, tiredly navigating through the surrounding smog that pervades her every breath. How much time does she have left before it’s all over? How many more breaths does she have to take?

She pulls out her Wayfinder and gives it a meaningful stare of appreciation. The sweet taste of nostalgia forms a smile on her face as she goes back to simpler times.

“Nyagh!” Ventus grunts as he falls to his back for what has to be the fifth time in a row. Growling with an impending frustration, the boy rubs the back of his head. Aqua gives a slight smirk.

“Ven, you’re trying to use your head again. Use your heart, not your head.”

“Yeah, I know.” Aqua helps him up to his feet. “It’s just—I don’t know, maybe I’m just not cut out for the Keyblade.” He averts his eyes with a sigh, looking at his wooden Keyblade with Terra’s name ingrained on the handle.

Aqua kneels down to his level and places a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t say that. These things just take time.” She chuckles. “You don’t really expect to become Master material overnight, do you?”

“But you and Terra always make it look easy.”

“We also had to put in a lot of time and effort to get us where we are today,” says a confident voice from behind them.

Ventus lights up with excitement. “Terra!”

Aqua smiles in her usual motherly fashion as Ventus runs towards Terra like he’s the big brother he’d been waiting to see for weeks.

“Remember what I told you,” Terra continues, summoning his Keyblade. “You’re trying too hard to move your body. You got let your body move you.”

Ven crosses his arms, thinking intently as he looks up to the sky. “That’s not as clear as you make it sound...”

Terra chuckles and ruffles his hair. “You’re such a kid.”

Ventus rejects his teasing and offers a scowl. “Hey! I’m not a kid...” he pouts. “

“Yeah?” Terra smirks. “Tell ya what, let’s get a sparring session going and we’ll see just how much of a kid you really are.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t be a bully,” Aqua teases as she enters the fray.

Terra shrugs innocently. “What? Just a little friendly competition, since Ven wants to be taken seriously. I say we give him the shot to prove himself. What do you say?”

Ventus grins, pounding his fist into his palm with a determined expression. “You’re on!”

Aqua rolls her eyes. “Boys...”

Aqua giggles at the memories, allowing a tear slip down her cheek without her notice. The simple days when there wasn’t a catastrophic crisis hanging on the balance of the world as they knew it—how she longed to be transported back to such a blissful purity.

Lost in thought, she fails to realize that she stumbles onto a cobblestone path. She places her Wayfinder back into her pouch and walks down the trail with a keen scrutiny. Lamp line up on each end, giving the path a peach colored warm, but dimly-lit radiance.

Before she can proceed, the ground jolts her with a sudden rumble. Keeping her eyes alert and cautious, she summons her Keyblade and prepares a stance. On the sides of the aisle from the deepest depths of darkness rises two monstrous brutes in the extensive catalogue of Heartless. They are called Darkside’s, and as one of them brings down his fist, Aqua neatly jumps out of the way.

She propels her into the air, spinning while discharging powerful bolts of light pearls towards both of the creatures, successfully hitting both. Not backing down, she lands on the ground and lunges towards one of them ready to slash.

To her surprise, the Darkside grabs her by the waist in midair and merely slams her back to the cobblestone path below.

Aqua yells in excruciating pain, desperately trying to lift herself back up to her feet. Normally, a blow like that wouldn’t be nearly as drastic. But with her nonstop battle against these demonic creatures of late, her exhaustion has seemed to finally caught back up to her.

Maybe she really should sink into the darkness here. It’s not like she has anything left...

“I hope you two have been making the necessary adjustments in preparation for your Mark of Mastery in two days,” Eraqus says as he and his pupils sit at the dinner table like a family.

“We’ve been training day and night, Master Eraqus,” Terra says. “You know that.”

“Of course, but training means nothing if it isn’t necessary. You must be sure that you prepare yourselves most adequately.”

“I assure you, Master,” Aqua says. “Terra and I will make sure that we’re prepared.”

“It is not you who I worry for, Aqua...” Eraqus averts an eye to Terra.

“What?” Terra says with a full mouth.

“You mustn’t lose sight of your destiny, Terra. I care for you like my own son, and I don’t want to see you fail. But it is a crucial necessity that you keep that darkness of yours at bay.”

“Y-Yes, Master...”

“My friend who will be coming in to observe your examination will be able to pick up any trace of darkness, so never let your guard down. You must be cautious at all costs. And that goes to all of you. I do not want to see any of my students being driven by the darkness.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Ven says. “Terra and Aqua are gonna pass this exam with flying colors! Right, Terra?”

“Without a doubt.”

“You certainly seem more cheerful,” Aqua observes.

“Huh?” Ventus inquires. “Me?”

“It’s true,” Terra agrees. “You were a zombie when you first got here, and now you’ve actually learned how to smile. I say you’ve had a lot of progress. Not only with your social skills, but as a Keyblade wielder too.”

“Really?” Ven asks in awe.

“Wouldn’t you say so, Aqua?”

“Of course,” she answers. “I see Keyblade Master potential in him, easily.”

Ventus feels his stomach bubbling with joy and mirth overtake him with all of the compliments. He loved when they praised him.

“Let’s just hope no one nearly implodes our home this time.”

Ventus rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “Sorry...”

Aqua fails to suppress a giggle, making the other boys turn their heads. “Oh, sorry—it’s just, it’s the little things like this that can be really special.” She holds her hand to her chest. “I just hope we can always be together like this.”

“Forever is a bold statement,” Eraqus says. “Expect the unexpected. Who knows when sometimes miraculous may come up. Who knows? We may even be put into a situation of grave danger within the next few days and we wouldn’t have seen it coming, which is why you must always see it coming and stand two steps ahead of the opposing force.”

“Even still, no matter what happens, even if we’re apart, we’ll always find a way back to each other,” Terra says.

“Yeah!” Ventus exclaims. “No matter what, we’re a team! And it’s gonna stay that way.”

Aqua can feel her heart glow. The simple moments truly do it for her. Master Eraqus makes a good point to expect the unexpected, but she just hopes that any misfortune that might disrupt their peace will be far off. She wants to spend a long while with the freedom to enjoy these occasions with the ones most special to her.

Besides, nothing can change that drastically, can it?

“I’ll always be there to protect you guys,” Aqua says with sentimentality in her voice. “I’ll never let anything happen to any of you.”

But she failed. She failed to protect both of them and now she was paying the price. She’s alone, about to be pummeled to death by two vicious beings born of darkness. This must be her punishment for not living up to the title of Master.

“No matter what, we’re a team! And it’s gonna stay that way.”

Wait, what is she doing? She can’t give up. Ventus is depending on her survival if he ever wants to see the light of day again. With what little strength left that courses through her veins, she kips herself back up and avoids an incoming punch from both Darkside’s.

In a move she calls Deep Freeze, she summons glaciers of ice to trap both of her foes before launching them both to the sides, killing them both in a final swathe.

She lands on the pathway yet again, but her legs give out and she tumbles to the ground.

What is this weakness? She’s never felt so fatigued before in her life.

Before, she felt like she had something worth fighting for. But both of her friends are gone. Doubts begin to creep in on every direction. Would she even be able to save them? Is she even worthy of the Master title?

How much time does she have left?

Master Eraqus instilled great trust within her. How could she give up when he put so much faith on her as a person?

She clutches a fist and finds inner strength. Aqua uses her Keyblade and lifts herself up to her feet.

She pulls out her Wayfinder and musters a sad smile.

She’s not alone.

There’s still time.

It’s not over yet.

With newfound determination, Aqua sets out into the distance.

It wasn’t long before she came across a familiar castle.

He's largely forgotten that moment, but it's clear to him when it's brought back to mind.  

The time is coming soon, so he figures that he's probably got to make another decision again. He just hopes he'll know what to choose.

But nothing shows up. Not the silent voices or the words that flowed into his mind. Not the pedestals.

Just him in a vast space.

No one speaks, but he is spoken to. He understands their questions and proddings. It's familiar, even though it has no voice. It does not take him long to get some understanding why he is there.

You have grown.

He shuffles his feet for a brief second. "Yeah, I guess I have."

Are you satisfied with your choices?

"Yeah," He nods slowly. "I am."

Even though they have caused you to lose your original goals, brought you far from your friends and your home?

Memories flashed in his mind. First of sparring with Riku, then of their plans to travel. Then of seeing Riku again as Ansem, in his black coat, and of saving Kairi's heart.

"Yeah," he says, nodding slowly before giving a final curt nod. He was sure of it.

And why is that so?

A different set of memories came to mind, not of his friends this time, but of the ones he's made along the way. There were problems much larger than his own, places much larger than the little island he called home. Regardless, he had made just as many good memories as much as he had bad ones, and learned so much from each of them. He had gotten his wish to see the worlds, but still, he thought of home from time to time. After all, in the end, there was nothing quite like coming home, wherever that was.

But now that he knew what went on in other worlds, what was going on in the grand scheme of things, how could he be selfish? For all the dreams, and for all the hearts, he pushed on. For the friends he’s made and the friends he’s had yet to meet, too.

I see, it says simply. Then, are you satisfied with your decisions thus so far?

That, he had to think of a little while longer. There were so many doubts in his mind. When he accidentally turned the gears of their plans, he became a key piece. He doubted sometimes if he could truly be the one, but his heart always guided him where he needed to be. He trusted in his friends to be true, to be there for him, no matter what. He trusted that his heart would lead him down the right path.

It seemed to take those thoughts as an answer.

What about being Keyblade Master?

He lost, and that frustrated him, he could admit it. “I…” he sighed. “I still have a long way to go.”

But you did not succumb to the darkness. Why does that make him the keyblade master?

“I…” he furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t know...maybe my heart wasn’t...strong enough?”

Then are you worthy of the title? Will you try again?

That needed no hesitation. “Of course!”

And if you fail again?

“Of course I will! I’m not going let to that stop me!” Why was it so focused on the possibility of failing again? “And even if I do…” he shook his head. “There has to be another way. Has to be...” he trailed off.

The voice went silent and he wondered if it didn’t like his answer. He didn’t regret a word of it, and he hoped that it would take that to mean something good.

He had his answer in the form of a single ray of light tapping against the floor around him.  He looked up into the mist, and there was the large, but faint outline of a keyhole that he may have fallen in from. And there was his next question.

He summoned the keyblade, swinging it in his hand until he got the feel, and pointed it towards the ceiling. He took a deep breath, concentrating on his emotions, his best memories, and on himself.

Focus, on your breathing, on letting it flow from you. Do not let the coming darkness scare you from your goals. You know what you’re here for. What you want. What you need to do.

All around him, a sudden wind started whipping up what seemed to be pages of a storybook around him. They were followed around by small blue orbs, whipping around in random order and direction. They all brushed so close to him, but they never quite cut.

It was almost deafening with the amount of paper and whizzing, and getting difficult to ignore. But he soon realized they weren’t just distractions.

You’ve got this.

Come back soon okay?

There were different voices, each one that he had encountered before, and then one that he hadn’t. But they were all saying virtually the same thing to him.

I have faith in you, Sora. You can do this.

“Yeah,” he mumbled to himself. “I can.”

The keyhole glowed bright, the light intensifying as it filled the arena, until he was forced to squeeze his eyes shut. The yellow found its way under his eyelids, and the sounds stopped all together.

There was a peaceful kind of silence again, but he wasn’t afraid. He felt nothing below him, but he didn’t fight it. The very same force that had brought him here, once again, lulling him.

Perhaps, he’ll think of it as a dream tomorrow.  He may not remember the gentle shuffling of the comforter as it falls over his shoulders when he falls asleep completely. But no matter. He just needs to believe he is not alone.

The thought that he will never see Roxas again is an incisive pain, cutting through the layers of flesh and bone to reach him where he is soft and vulnerable. He can't bring Roxas back, not from this. Somehow he knows that Roxas would not want him to, but failure still rings true.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Lea lies.

He changes the subject, seeking distraction, "Castle Oblivion is a ridiculous name."

"Is it?"

"It is."

Castle Oblivion, Lea thinks determinedly, is a name that sounds like something he and Isa would have come up with when they were children playing with toy knights and dragons. It sounds like evil trying too hard to be cool, which makes it less ominous as a whole. Lea would have chosen something more subtle, something that implies that the evil knows it needs no introduction because it was-- well, evil enough.

"I think it's alright," says Sora. "What else would you call it?"

"I don't know," Lea admits.

"How about the Mystery Castle?" Sora suggests.

"Jeez, that's worse."

Sora shrugs, unoffended. When Lea was Axel, the other Organization members didn't seem to care either, except for Saix, who was more annoyed at Lea's irreverence than at the name. Said they weren’t children playing anymore. So Lea drops the subject. He doesn’t know what else to talk to Sora about, so he stays quiet, listens to Sora’s tuneless humming, to their footsteps disrupting the vengeful peace of this place.

He had come because Sora had asked, because Sora had turned Roxas’s eyes on him and Lea could never say no. And why not, he had thought. He could play tour guide for a day. And you should never take the voices in your head lightly, especially if you were a Keyblade bearer.

Now it’s been hours, nonstop because Sora is tireless and endlessly optimistic. Each room is a new wave of memories, and nausea. They've reached the very bottom of the Castle, and Lea is having trouble finding his footing. He tries to brush away that sunset on the Destiny Islands, the hard edge of distrust in Kairi's gaze, the crunch of a seashell beneath his boot-- was that the first time he had ever seen the ocean?--the things he did for Roxas, for Xion. He says, louder than he intends to, "Getting any more of those weird signs?"

Sora frowns. "No, nothing. How about you? Don't you know this Castle like the back of your hand?"

Lea-- or Axel, more accurately-- does. He has every alcove and hidden passageway mapped, but he has never come across this Chamber of Waking that Xemnas, and now Sora, was so determined to find. He doesn't know what he would have found inside either. Xemnas had never deemed him worthy of the knowledge.

"I don't know how many times I've searched," he says. "I never found it."

"Hmm.” Sora turns to consider their current dead end, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I'm sure she said it would be here."

"Well, does your mysterious disembodied voice lady have any more clues? Like what we’d find inside?"

"That's rude," says Sora. "She has a name. It's Aqua."

"Aqua," Lea echoes.

The flotsam are less now that they’ve stopped, only the odd piece here and there, of white walls and his first moments as a Nobody, the sterility of basement labs and the pull of his heart going out of orbit. That's the last of it, Lea thinks, feeling chill. And indeed there is calm, the waves gentle, moonlight rippling on black water. Lea imagines he can see a shoreline, and strange, towering structures, like the skeleton of an ancient beast half sunk under its own weight. Beneath a dark arch, there is a figure.

Lea blinks and there is Sora again, rapping his knuckles on the wall, and it seems the sound has to travel a great, misty distance before it reaches Lea in the middle of his dark sea.

"Sora," Lea calls.

"Yeah?" Sora says, turning around. "Do you feel something?"

"Your Keyblade," says Lea. He sounds faraway even to himself, and there is dread filling his chest like water.

Sora does not hesitate. The moment Sora draws, his Keyblade resonates with something deep and hidden within the Castle. The walls around them glow white-hot. Lea looks down at his hand, where he had summoned his own Keyblade without thinking.

Roxas? Lea wants to call out. But he knows already that that’s wrong. Roxas is gone, and so is Xion and Namine and Isa, gone, gone, gone. There is another name Lea should know, but his heart, still clumsy and slow, can’t recall it no matter how it strains.

He watches Sora reach a hand out, and Lea feels his heart reaching too, yearning. The wall before them dissolving in a shower of light before Sora touches it, the walls all around them shimmering and crumbling, a cascade of stars. A line of light sweeps beneath their feet.

The room they are left in is bright, open and empty but for the throne at the far end. The symbol of the Keyblade Master adorn the new walls, and in the back of Lea’s mind, the figure under the arch on that dark shore flickers. Lea’s Keyblade drops from his hand.

"Look,” Sora whispers.

Lea is looking. It’s impossible, he is thinking.

"Roxas?" says Lea. "Rox--" His voice cracks.

Sora walks past him, and Lea thanks the world for the good that is resilient, unshakable Sora, for Lea’s own feet are leaden and he cannot move. The part of him that's still Axel begins to tremble as Sora crosses the Chamber to the throne. The throne's high back and the high ceilings of the room make the body in the seat seem small and insignificant. How long has he rested here, alone, abandoned, under the weight of silence and an entire world. Lea's knees feel weak thinking about it, from fear or pity, Lea doesn't know. When Sora reaches out to touch, Lea's heart stutters.

A light surrounds them both, Sora and-- Roxas? could it be-- so bright that it hurts and Lea has to close his eyes. When he opens them again, the part of him that is Axel goes static.

The boy stands. "Sora," the boy says.

Axel knows that is not Roxas's smile, that it is not Roxas that fills the Chamber with a sudden thrumming power. But Lea is remembering too. The boy's voice turns warped and thin in Lea's mind. Lea knows they are still speaking, Sora and the boy, because he sees their mouths moving, sees Sora wiping at his eyes and the boy laughing, and something tears inside Lea, though Lea can't hear anything above the rushing in his ears. Lea takes a step forward, and another, until somehow he's on his knees before the throne and Sora's hand is on one shoulder, the boy's hand on the other.

Lea tries, "You're--" but he can't finish. There's something fundamental missing, something that is not Axel and not Lea as he is now-- something that belongs to a before that's been buried for years.

There's are lights now in that dark sea, glowing pieces of his past resurfacing from the depths. Gardens in full bloom, Dilan and Aeleus in their guard uniforms, the square of warm light that is Isa's window across the street. He remembers the curve of his frisbees against his palms, the bruises on his arms from tumbling down the stone steps of Radiant Garden Castle. He remembers a wooden key, a clear sky, defeat and laughter. He remembers.

"You're--"

The boy looks at him, his mouth a gentle curve. "Lea, right?"

After all, we're friends now. A declaration.

Stray puppies, Isa had chastised. Isa, whom Lea misses, whom Lea has betrayed. Isa, who always knew best.

But here, now--

"You remember," says Lea.

"I got it memorized," says the boy, the stray puppy, whose name Lea had not heard again since that first and only day, whose name was lost to Lea along with his heart. But now it's returned to him, along with memories of home, of long summer days and the scratched desks in his classrooms and the old parchment smell of the castle library. Days when his biggest worry was copying Isa's math homework while avoiding Squall's disapproving glare and getting home before curfew. Days that were reassuring in their predictability, until this boy appeared in Garden with his key and his hesitant smile, who had believed Lea when he said they’d see each other again.

Lea doesn't know where he finds the strength, but he nods.

"Ventus," Lea says.