Hearts of Fate and War

He was laying against a tree watching the sky. The stars twinkling high above. Clouds sacattered around, the moon lighting them. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't hear the approaching footsteps rustling the grass.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Terra jerked his head, almost falling off the tree. He saw Aqua, whom he adored more than anything staring at him, her blue strands of hair visible under the tree's shadow.

"No," Terra responded. "Too excited about tomorrow."

Aqua smiled at the way his eyes sparkled when he said it. She walked closer to where he lay. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous."

Terra's eyes widened slightly. "You? But you have nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

"Of course. You're probably the best student out of the three of us." And Terra really believed it. Master Eraqus was always praising Aqua the most. She had amazing potential with magic. And she was the fastest learner.

"You'll make the Mark of Mastery for sure, Aqua," he said.

This seemed to ease her, and she smiled. "Thank you, Terra. You will make it too."

Terra blushed, and he quickly looked back up at the stars, hoping Aqua couldn't see the red creeping on his face. Oh, how he loved her praise. Aqua walked closer, putting her hand on the tree close to Terra's arm, brushing past it slightly.

Terra shivered despite the warm weather. He could see Aqua out the corner of his eye. She was looking at the sky too. Her bangs falling to both sides of her face.

"It's beautiful," she said after a second.

"I know," Terra said not paying attention to the stars at all, but instead on the way her delicate jaw moved when she spoke.

The bluenette looked back at Terra. "You ok?"

Terra tried to make it look like he wasn't looking at her. "Sure am." He thought for a moment. "Aqua?"

Her dark blue eyes looked into his and he almost found it hard to speak. "Where are you gonna go when you become a Master?" he asked hesitantly.

Putting her hand on her other arm she said, "I'm not sure. Ven still needs to finish his training. And I'm worried he'll get lonely if no one is around other than Master Eraqus. You know how he gets." She looked back up missing the slight dissapointment in Terra's features.

Terra didn't want to stay here when he became a Master. He wanted to travel different worlds. See tons of different sights and learn many different things.

Most of all, he wanted to do those things with her. He wanted Aqua by his side, like she was now.

The moon slid behind a cloud then, covering the two aprentices in complete night. He got a thought then. Terra extended his arm out. A small light appeared in the center of his palm, lighting up him and Aqua. He fired the ball of light silently into the air, shadows spreading out everywhere.

Aqua smiling, also made one and shot that up into the air. It joined the other one with a trail of light. When they met each other they shattered like glass. The shards of glowing glass fell back to the Land of Departure, winking out before touching the ground. Something Aqua and him invented when they were younger.

The moon came back out from hiding, their faces once more able to be seen. Aqua was staring at him.

"What is it?"

"What are you gonna do when you become Master?" she asked thoughtfully.

Travel the worlds and become the strongest Keyblade Master ever. With you by my side is what he wanted to say.

"Hadn't thought of it much, really," he said in a small voice. Truth was, he thought about it a lot...had thought about Aqua a lot. And he wondered how much she thought about him.

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll do fine." She stretched her arms and yawned. "I think we should head back. If Ven finds us gone he'll worry again."

Terra was slightly annoyed at this, but said nothing. Though he agreed that they should be well rested for tomorrow, even if he was so excited that he thought he might burst into flames.

When they reached their rooms Terra stopped in front of Aqua. He wanted to say something to the female. Before things got complicated. This would probably be the last normal night for any of them.

"I..." he started. Aqua had stopped turning the knob to her bedroom and looked at her friend. Rubbing his neck, he continued. "Just wanted to say good luck tomorrow."

Smiling she said, "Thanks. You too." She opened her door and stepped through. She didn't close it yet, noticing Terra hadn't moved.

"Aqua I..." Love you...

"Hmm?" She cocked her head to the side. her hand leaning against the door.

His face lowered a little. Why was it so hard to talk to her?

"Good night, Aqua."

She smiled. "Good night, Terra." And with that, she closed her door leaving Terra alone and suddenly depressed.

Back in his own room he lay awake with thoughts of being a Keyblade Master. So many roads would open up for him. But how many of those did he see Aqua at the end of?

He turned over in his bed suddenly afraid of everything. Afraid of change. His whole life he dreamed of being a master. Like the ones in the legends. Traveling all the different worlds. Learning new things. Fighting monsters.

But lately he worried what it would be like doing those things without Aqua. Sleep didn't come to Terra for a while, but when it did his dreams were filled of her.