~*Unraveling Destiny's Links*~

Terra wished he hadn't forgotten the phrase "be careful what you wish for"…

~***~

"I will now announce the Exam results." Master Eraqus stated calmly, thoughtfully.

Terra waited rigidly, heart pounding, forcing himself to breathe evenly as he recovered from his duel with Aqua. The female Keybearer was in the same state. The grand training room in the castle that was chained to the mountain peaks, which overlooked the summery world known as The Land of Departure, would soon find out which of its Keyblade Apprentices had passed and become a Master.

Master. The word sent a thrill of fire through his veins, and his eyes brightened at the prospect of being known as Master Terra. Pure logic and reason said he should pass before Aqua—he had been a disciple of Eraqus's earlier than she had. He had more experience! Surely he would graduate first?

Aqua's azure stare was fixated on Eraqus, and she wasn't even breathing.

The stooped and elderly—though shrewd-faced and glittering eyed—Master Xehanort was hunched over near Eraqus. It was hard to believe that the straight-backed, graying haired Eraqus and the aged-looking Xehanort had been trained together under the same teacher, and thus was close in years.

But that wasn't important, and Terra shoved such trivial matters from his mind. All that mattered were his Master's next words.

Time seem to have frozen for the inhabitants of the magnificent ivory, gold, emerald, and sapphire room. The three thrones, for the trio of living Keyblade Masters, were the only splash of brown in the oppressively elegant space. Terra distantly noted Ventus, his friend and the youngest protégé of the trinity, standing at attention a little ways away. He was too young to participate in the Master Qualification Exam. He'd get his own, later.

Eraqus looked at Terra. "Terra, your skills far surpassed Aqua's…"

A wild hope kindled in his chest and set aflame his insides. But, in all fairness, he thought the female Keybearer had almost had him beat…He felt a regretful twinge in his heart as her eyes became dark with pain and disappointment.

"However…"

Here, Ven wasn't the only apprentice that gasped.

"Aqua will become a Master."

Xehanort raised his eyebrows but said nothing, his orange stare focused at some point past Terra and Aqua.

"Terra, you used the Darkness in your heart to increase your power, and thus, have failed," Eraqus continued. "I expect you to work harder for the next time. That is all."

He started saying something about Aqua and her new duties as a Keyblade Master, but the male warrior couldn't bring himself to really hear the words. All he knew was that he had failed.

His dream was to become a Keyblade Master—and he hadn't.

There was still a chance, but it only hurt more-so that Aqua had gotten it first. It had always been his dream, since before she got here. It wasn't fair!

A fury of massive proportions raged against his tumult of despair and confusion. Xehanort slowly stalked away, his eyes meeting his own for a second in something like pity before leaving the chamber.

Terra heard the metallic patter of Ven's footsteps as he raced quickly over, and Aqua stepped towards him, extending a hand of comfort that hovered awkwardly between them.

"Terra…" she began softly, but he didn't want hers, or Ven's, pity and empty words of comfort.

"I thought Terra would—"choked out the blonde apprentice, sounding flabbergasted.

"There's Darkness…inside my heart?" His head was lowered, and he didn't even meet the sympathetic eyes of his friends. His grief at losing the Exam, his extreme disappointment, could take one of two forms.

Quiet desolation.

Or destructive rage.

He waited until Eraqus and Xehanort came past him, apparently finished with their discussion. Xehanort went one way, Eraqus the other, their expressions unreadable.

The footsteps faded. Then:

Growling in frustration, Terra strode away from his friends, his entire body quivering. Anger unlike anything he had ever known permeated his being, and he slammed his fist against the wall. There was a bell-like peal that sounded throughout the whole room, hanging invisibly in the air.

"Terra!" gasped both Aqua and Ven.

Rounding on them, the eldest Keyblader roared, "Are you happy now?"

"What?" Ven queried, startled, taking a step back. Aqua just widened her eyes questioningly.

"This is your fault. You." He jabbed a finger towards the female. "I can't be a Master because of you!"

"You can always try again—"the blonde began, but he was past listening to reason. Terra hit the wall again and again, bitter tears swelling in his eyes. He hated how he was reacting. In fact, this probably proved Eraqus's point. He had Darkness in his heart.

And it was eating him alive. Right now, the burning vehemence felt almost like a righteous fire, as if he was justified in his irritation. And he let that lie fill his mind until it warped and twisted and became the truth.

"Terra, calm—"

"Shut up. Aqua this is your entire fault."

She bristled but kept her temper in check. "I'm sorry that you didn't win, but—"

"Don't lie. You're glad you won. Some part of you is rejoicing, and you refuse to acknowledge it because you're such a good person!" Terra's tone became so scathing at the end that Aqua actually recoiled, as if she had been slapped.

"Hey! Don't pin this on her!" Ven objected, his voice becoming the closest to a snarl that Terra had ever heard.

But the blistering shadows were obscuring his judgment. He rounded on the blonde next, spitting, "You all can stop comforting me. I know you wanted Aqua to win."

"Didn't you? You said you hope—"

Terra ignored him, glaring at the blue-haired Keyblade Master with such a horrible, smothering resentment that if looks could kill, the entire Land of Departure would be nothing but smoke and ash and cold fire.

Wait. Cold? Since when was the fire cold?

Aqua opened her mouth, closed it, and then murmured unhappily, "I'm sorry I won."

That did it. The fact that she wasn't even doing the human thing to do, the instinctive reaction to snap back when someone starting biting, disgusted Terra to no end. She was so perfect.

He turned his back on her and seethed quietly, "I hate you, Aqua. I wish we had never met."

The freezing inferno flared to an unbearable level inside of him. And he let it sit there, catching him in its icy embrace, festering down in his black, black heart. If Eraqus was right. And that just made the fire burn all the brighter.

But, when no reply came for what seemed like a long time, Terra turned despite himself, expecting to be alone. But Ven was still there, gaping at him in shock and horror and such a terrible despair was scorched into his sky-blue eyes that he instantly wished he could take his sharp words back.

His gaze moved to Aqua, tears trapped at the corners, one already down her cheek. She was in the process of taking a step, her face shattered into an awful expression of pure agony.

A sick part of him rejoiced. Reveled in it. He was causing her pain that was stamped forever across her—

Do you truly wish it?

Terra blinked, turning around quickly. But there was nothing there. No one besides his friends, frozen in their various poses. Like time had simply stopped moving.

To gain what you want, you must lose what you have. The price of a second try is the loss of all that is and would have been. Do you truly wish it?

The repulsive icy embers were still boiling his soul and heart, turning his mind bleak and cold. A part of him wondered idly if this was the Darkness that Eraqus feared and hated so much. "I don't want to lose the Master…or Ven…" He let his gaze drift to Aqua. "But if she had never been here…I bet things would be…" A peculiar certainty had latched itself into his heart. A chant in his mind.

Things would be better without her. I'd be Keyblade Master then if I didn't have to compete with her.

A part of him recoiled from the shadows, and that was why he wasn't waking up.

Your desire that you sent out to Me is simple and complex. The removal of Fate's Meeting between you and her. Do you truly wish it?

"Don't kill her," Terra muttered. "I just don't want her as an apprentice with me. She can be a Keybearer elsewhere. Maybe then we can be friends again."

The great voice that resounded in his heart and mind spoke again, with a distinctly feminine tilt, but it was hard to tell.

Your paths are destined to intertwine; even I cannot destroy the Links of Destiny. But, you shall have your desire. Your path starts at dawn, hers at dusk. Do you truly wish it?

"I do." Terra stated firmly, but the instant the words left his lips, the all-consuming glacier tempest that had been clawing at his insides vanished. He realized what he had just said. He tried to object, but it was too late.

Warrior of Dawn, when you see her, will you always wish the same? To achieve what you want, you lose what you have.

"No!" He shouted in anguish, staring up at the ceiling. Why had he been so stupid? Why had he let the Darkness take over like that? Why, why, why?! "Wait, stop!"

The room began rippling, as if caught in heat waves, or like the ocean depths. Terra's gaze met Aqua's motionless one, and he darted forward so fast that it would have put Ventus to shame. He tried to wrap his arms around her, as if that could stop her from leaving his life…

But he passed right though.

A dimming shadow was draping itself over his vision, and Terra stumbled, losing his balance and his consciousness all in one fell swoop. "No…Aqua…I'm sorry…Please let me be dreaming…!"

You have turned a Warrior of Midday to a Warrior of Night. Is this what you truly wish?

Then the world collapsed, and he knew no more.

~***~

Groaning, Terra sat up and looked around. His eyes widened as he beheld the scene before him. His room. Messy and disorganized and scattered with various Keyblade books, sketches, and other miscellaneous items one would expect from an apprentice dedicated to the task of becoming a Master.

With a fuzzy mind, he climbed out of bed and slowly put his armor and clothes on, one piece at a time, oh so very carefully. Then, with the same strange reluctance, he started downstairs towards the grand training room and the meeting hall.

What…am I doing again? What does Eraqus have planned today?

Clanking footsteps sounded before him, and as he turned a corner, Terra almost ran smack dab into Ventus. The young Keybearer flashed him a relieved grin.

"Finally! There you are! The Master's waiting for you! Do you want to be late and fail your Qualification Exam? Let's go!" With that, he turned and raced off again.

Blinking, the eldest disciple finally recalled that he was having his Master Qualification Exam today. Nodding swiftly, trying to breathe calmly so his heart wouldn't drum a hole in his chest, Terra pelted down the winding corridors as fast as he could, looking out over the beautiful forests and lakes below them, thinking to himself that it couldn't possibly be a better day to become a Master.

The Land of Departure itself is celebrating!

Shaking off the odd sluggishness—and the feeling that someone had been missing at Ven's side—Terra gave the world an exultant grin, to show that he was so not afraid of anything it had to throw at him. He burst into the throne room, skidding to a halt in front of his Master as Eraqus raised his eyebrows, hands folded behind his back.

"Sorry I'm late, Master." Terra bowed low from the waist.

Waiting for Ven to assume his position on the sidelines—the young Keybearer wasn't experienced enough for his own Exam—Eraqus nodded. "Do not worry, Terra. Master Xehanort and his apprentices are not here yet." He paused for a second, thoughtful. "Xehanort and I will have to discuss what we're doing for your test. Someone else will be performing the Exam with you, Terra."

"Really?" He was somewhat surprised, but not actually. He wondered who it was. Was it a boy? Girl? How much did he or she know? Were they stronger?

"Yes. In fact, they should be here any second."

As if on cue, there was a golden gleam of light as sunbeams burst into the stained glass chamber. The main door had opened, and in walked three figures. One was a dark-skinned old man that was always leaning forward, hunched, since he couldn't straighten his back. He had cunning orange eyes and powerful feel about him, thin lips twitching. That would be Xehanort, Terra realized.

One of the younger figures was a boy, or so he guessed. He was dressed from head to toe in a black-and-red body suit that seemed eerily organic. His stride was imperious, arrogant, obvious even without the expression of his face.

The other…was a girl.

Terra leaned over the balustrade, since the training area was on the second level. Eraqus went down to greet the three as the female came to a halt a few steps behind Xehanort, standing beside the armored boy. She had blue eyes that bore a strange tint to them, almost yellowish, but it was hard to tell from the distance he was at. Her azure hair was cut short around her ears, the bangs falling a bit across her pale face. She stood with her arms loosely at her side, silver armor gleaming on various portions of her outfit, alert and at attention.

She suddenly lifted her gaze and stared straight at him for a few seconds.

A splitting pain lanced down into Terra's skull, almost ripping apart his consciousness. He was close to fainting on the spot in that instant. As fast as it had come, it was gone.

Eraqus called, "Terra, Ven! Master Xehanort and I need to talk about something. Why don't you come down and meet your fellow apprentices?"

"They can come up," Terra replied cheekily. "We have to train here anyway."

The girl rolled her eyes but the armored male made a snickering noise.

Pulling away from the rails as the other disciples started climbing the steps; Terra turned to Ven. "Have you…seen that girl before?"

He raised his eyebrows. "What girl?"

"The blue-haired one, down there."

Ven's expression clearly said, have you lost your mind?

He scowled in response, but the blonde was undeterred. He instead stepped past Terra and tapped a fist against his chest, grinning hugely. "Hey there! My name's Ventus!"

The dark male lounged against the banister, somehow exuding confidence and pride without even the benefit of a visible smirk. "Is it? Is that your real name?"

Ven blinked, his smile faltering. "Huh?"

Terra watched as Aqua waved one hand in a dismissing fashion. "Ignore Vanitas; he's got a tongue more twisted than the roots of a tree."

Wait…how did I know her name was Aqua?

"What about you?" Vanitas drawled, rapping his fingers against the smooth wood. His voice bounced within the huge chamber until it seemed as if a dozen questions were being asked at once.

"Terra. My name is Terra."

"Terra? That's a pretty girly name," sneered the girl.

Bristling, he snarled, "It's not a girly name. It's Latin. For earth. What about you?"

"Aqua."

So, I was right. But…why? Was it a lucky guess?

"Right…well…good luck today, Aqua. I guess you'll be fighting Terra?" Ven said awkwardly.

"Yeah, guess so. Hope he isn't too easy. I want to feel like I earned my Master title." Aqua studied her nails casually, raising her eyes to give Terra a gloating glance.

Forcing his temper down, Terra kept his reply civil. "I'm sure you'll find me a fit match for you."

"What about you, Vanitas?" inquired Ventus, intent on keeping the conversation going.

Vanitas turned his masked face towards the blonde, the dark surface reflecting everything back like a twisted mirror. "What about me?"

"When's your Exam? Maybe you'll have it with mine?"

Terra's skin crawled involuntarily as Vanitas chuckled. "Of that I have no doubt."

"How long have you two been together? As apprentices, I mean." Ven hurriedly added before Aqua's hackles rose, figuratively speaking.

The girl shifted her weight from one leg to the other, obviously anticipating something. "Vanitas and I have been with each other for a few years."

"Terra and I too! Right, Terra?" The young Keybearer turned his sky-blue eyes on the brown-haired warrior, obviously wanting some help in addressing the foreign duo.

"…Yeah." Terra crossed his arms and turned away, still troubled by the odd feeling he was getting from Aqua. It was almost a companionable vibe, but he had just met her! Hadn't he? Why couldn't he remember? His head hurt from all of the thinking he was doing, meticulously picking apart memory after memory for any clue relating to the—

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Aqua snapped, irritated.

"Come now, he's thinking. It's rude to interrupt such a rare and marvelous process. Judging by his expression, it's a difficult thing to do."

It only took a heartbeat before Terra assessed the insult buried in Vanitas's words. He summoned his Keyblade, Earth Shaker, and brandished it. "What did you say?"

"Hey, no, don't fight." Ven pleaded, raising his hands. To his surprise, Aqua even mimicked the motion, her face softening into an expression of apprehension.

"I said whatever you believed I said, though mere sentences are often up for interpretation," the dark male answered with a soft malice in his voice.

"One more word and I'll—"

Footsteps bounced in the room as Xehanort and Eraqus returned, the more physically healthy Master in the lead. Eraqus stepped up, along with his companion, onto the raised platform of the Three Thrones. Turning, he pointed with one hand towards the left side of the chamber.

"Ventus, Vanitas, please stand there so you'll be out of the way during the Exam."

Xehanort's orange eyes followed the blonde in particular with open curiosity as the pair of younger protégés moved away. Vanitas slouched against the wall and Ven stood sharply at attention, out of respect for the two teachers.

The elderly man said nothing, but he took a seat and rested his chin on one white gloved hand, pensively observing everything.

Eraqus continued. "Terra, Aqua, today we will conduct your Master Qualification Exam. The victor of the Exam will go on to become a Master, and the loser will have to train some more, so as to not make the same mistake the second time around. Now, demonstrate your ingenuity and endurance as you battle these spheres." He flicked his fingers sharply, and two dozen white globes of Light leaped into existence, burning brightly, like miniature suns.

"You may begin."

Terra lunged towards the closest cluster of balls, decimating everything in his path with wide arcs of his Keyblade. Aqua sprang away from him, destroying all of hers with bursts of spontaneous and wild magic. He tried to ignore her, but he was acutely aware, always, of where she was. His left, behind him. His right, in front of him. Directly at his back.

Another jagged fissure opened in his mind, and he grimaced.

I've seen her. I know it. But where…? Why does Aqua seem so familiar to me?

The remaining eight orbs unexpectedly flared, becoming streaked with Darkness and dimming somewhat. Surprised, Terra and Aqua both increased their furious swings and swipes, battering their soft but resilient forms incessantly.

Why does this feel so wrong? He wondered as he passed her, the aura of hostility and coldness coming from her made his heart ache, and it seemed to be wishing for something else.

Something…just out of reach…whenever he tried to grab the memories on the edges of his mind, he was left with nothing but flickering shadows and a strong sense of vertigo. But he knew, deep down inside, that his heart was yearning for Aqua with a far different feeling—something radiant and kind and so beautiful that it seared…

"Terra!" hissed Ven as he passed. "You're done, you can stop now."

He realized he had been whipping around and around in a berserker circle, and now he came to an embarrassed halt, trying to ignore Vanitas's invisible but tangible stare, and everyone else's, as they gawked.

"…Sorry." He apologized hastily.

I need to snap out of it. Do I want to fail my Exam? I've never met her. Ever.

But once more, his head and heart hurt simultaneously.

Eraqus was silent for a few seconds. "Now we shall see a demonstration of your combat abilities against each other."

"Refrain from serious injuries," Xehanort murmured just loud enough to be heard. His heavily lidded eyes strayed briefly from Ventus and Vanitas to gaze hard at Terra and Aqua.

"Yes, Master," chimed the Exam participants.

Terra turned to Aqua, and she did the same with him. The longer he looked, the more apparent and stronger the feeling of kinship became. There was something wrong with her…he knew this instinctively.

Like…her face. His heart told him stories of an intelligent worrywart with relaxed, smiling, somewhat anxious features. Like a mother, almost. But his mind saw only a rigid impassiveness that was almost as good at hiding her emotions as Vanitas's glossy helmet.

His heart told him stories of azure eyes as deep as the ocean, but his mind saw only a strange golden tint to otherwise flat cerulean orbs.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong!

"This isn't right!" Terra hurled his Keyblade onto the floor, and he only vaguely registered everyone's shocked gasps, even the stoic Master Xehanort's.

"Terra! Are you okay?" Ven and Eraqus asked almost at the same time.

He didn't understand exactly why, but his entire being was recoiling from what he was seeing. Fragmented images of a stranger's life that looked exactly like him flashed across his vision, informing him that everything was wrong. Aqua should be here, sensible and kind, between him and Ven. Aqua shouldn't be with Vanitas.

Vanitas…shouldn't even be here.

"Have you lost your mind?" Aqua hissed, narrowing her mismatched orbs to slits. It gave her a sharply feline appearance.

"Maybe…I…" Terra clutched his head and stumbled, fighting a crushing wave of dizziness. Billions of different voices from a million memories echoed in his mind, each breaking off before they were complete and shattering into even more unreadable shards. The entire world seemed to change.

"Terra, are you sure you're okay?"

"C'mon Aqua, it'll take more than that to knock Terra out."

"But I hit him pretty hard…"

"Terra? Speak to me." Eraqus demanded, his tone severe but his eyes were dark with worry. Ven ran over and grabbed his shoulders, but the brown-haired warrior shrugged him off.

"No…no…no!" He howled. Terra collapsed on his hands and knees, shaking underneath the onslaught. "Everything is wrong!"

"Well, this is unexpected." Vanitas observed dryly.

"…Terra?" To his shock, Aqua had knelt down and had gently taken one of his hands. Her eyes seemed to clear of their unnatural tint at that instant, becoming a pure, deep azure.

Like they should be.

"Eraqus, it seems your apprentice is unstable." Xehanort had even shuffled over, Vanitas at his side, peering down at him with a concerned expression.

Struggling to throw off the horrible feeling of wrong that was invading his soul, Terra forced himself to stand. He stared up at the ceiling, past the stones, and into the infinite reaches of sky above. He hadn't even realized he was shouting until he heard his own voice rebounding within the great stained glass chamber.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!"

On the last agonized cry, the air rippled and became colorless for a heartbeat.

Terra gasped, turning around in a quick circle. He was still in the training room, but Eraqus wasn't there, or Xehanort. Instead…

Ven was standing behind him, anxious and frightened, and Aqua was looking guilty and unhappy, staring straight into his eyes.

Several minutes passed, where Terra just gazed back.

Is that not what you wanted?

"You," Terra growled. "Why did you do that?!"

Is that not what you wanted?

"…I wasn't thinking straight. But please, fix the timeline or whatever it is that you messed up. Please."

The return of the life of old, where your sun never sets in its constant sky. Is that what you truly wish?

"It is. More than anything."

So you have wished it, so it shall be…

Time resumed with a tiny pop!

"Terra…?" Aqua asked hesitantly, extending a hand towards him.

Already the disjointed memories of a life that never should have been were fading, but he remembered enough of the other Aqua to feel a revolting wave of horror—for himself.

He must really have Darkness in his heart, to call out in his fury to some invisible being to remove his best friend from his existence.

"I need to be alone." Terra pushed past his allies and hurried off by himself into the hallways, glad that they weren't following.

The peculiar memories were almost entirely gone now, but as he ran to God knew where, to be unaccompanied and think, he thought he heard a voice whisper softly:

Is this not what you wanted?

~***~

Okay before anyone asks, I don't know who "the voice" is. I decided to take a random idea challenge from my older sister, and the word she gave me was "time".

So I put together this story from it! It's more friendship than TerraxAqua but interpret it as you wish. I couldn't resist putting Vanitas in; he's just awesome like that.

So. Reviews are welcome though I know there's so much plot screw-ups here it's not even funny. Let's call it semi-AU!