towerofanimus | (no subject)

Characters: Aqua, AU!Sora (

lamentless)
Setting: Floor 11 and Floor 20.
Format: Prose ~~i love you past-tense~~
Summary: Aqua takes up the reigns of Master, and breaks some bad news.
Warnings: Most probably angst. Spoilers for Birth by Sleep.

Floor Eleven//
She sat by the lake with her knees drawn up just enough to rest her arms and chin on them. Sora wasn't happy with her for giving him the Keyblade, she was sure. She had always known it would hurt him, even all those years ago on that beach. But now that she had connected the dots and seen the picture that they made, she was sure she hadn't made a mistake in bringing him closer to the light. It was going to hurt, and so was what she was going to tell him.

But whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Aqua just wished she didn't have to be the one to cause the pain.

Floor Twenty//
The magician waited, staring out into the distance beyond the tower. Master Keeper dangled at her side, held firmly in her right hand. It would be hard to teach Roxas all the intricacies of the Keyblade when she wasn't using her own, but she was pretty sure she had enough experience to explain it well enough. Plus, she could start on teaching him magic. Hopefully he would show as much of an aptitude (and enthusiasm) for it as she did when she was an apprentice.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"...Answer me one thing," he begins, pausing to look out over the water. He won't look at her. Can't, not right now. She's confusing him, making his head hurt. She's too nice. Aren't the Light and Dark supposed to clash? But that's not his concern right now.

"...Why? Why did you give me that thing when you already knew I'm of the darkness?"

Why are you so nice to me? Why do you even care? So many other questions, but this is the important one.

She glances over to him with curiosity, surprised that he's still speaking. She doesn't expect the question, but she has an answer all the same.

"When I met you on that island all those years ago," she starts. "I was going to give you the power then. But...Terra had already passed on the rite to Riku. And I didn't want the two of you to clash over it like Terra and I did." She looks out to the water, and the strange rainbows stretching over it. "I don't think all hearts begin in darkness. I saw a light in you back then."

And, even though he's not looking at her, she returns her attentions to him to smile. "And even if you don't think it's there, I still see it." It was buried, and pretty deep down, but it's hard to extinguish something like that.

"I don't want you to have to feel alone here."

"I don't want you to have to feel alone here."

Immediately, Sora goes stiff. Whatever wheels in his head work grind to a halt and he just stares forward, eyes a bit wider than normal. Alone...? Like what his parents made him feel like...? Either way, he's trying to sort out the emotions brought up over this. There are, unfortunately, too many, and he just remains stiff there. Not responding, but not moving to leave, either.

Her smile fades at his reaction to an expression of worry. She supposes it's good that he hasn't bolted, but this response doesn't seem very good either.

"Sora?" she tries cautiously, unaware of the emotions she's stirred up within the boy. "Are you okay?"

He takes a moment to unfreeze, but then he offers a half-hearted smile to Aqua before shrugging.

"...Y-Yeah. Fine."

He's not going to say that even Dad hadn't said anything of the sort. He was often on his own, so this is... Surprising.

Her concern changes to relief when he responds (and even smiles just a bit; maybe she had made progress after all), and she visibly relaxes, shoulders slumping a little. "Good."

She doesn't require anything else of him, but she figures it would only be courteous to offer: "Do you have any other questions?" She had asked him so many, after all.