Silence

~ They didn't need any words to understand each other, or tell each other something. The comfortable silence said enough already. ~

S. - Silence

It felt as though the raging thunderstorm made the whole castle shudder. Aqua wasn't quite sure if it was just her imagination or not, but she didn't like it one bit; how was she supposed to fall asleep now? She would get a nightmare anyway. Too many things had happened in the past for that to be impossible...

After tossing and turning in her bed for another half hour, she decided that she had to do something, or she'd go mad! Maybe the thunderstorms weren't that frightening for Terra. Perhaps it didn't even sound half as loud in his bedroom. Of course, he could be sound asleep now, but staying here was no option for her.

I hope that he won't get too mad at me for being woken up, she thought, remembering how he hated early mornings, because that meant that he couldn't sleep in.

An angry Terra was nearly just as scary as the thunderstorm, but in a different way.

She had made her decision when she slipped out of her warm bed and tiptoed towards the hallway. Thankfully, Terra's bedroom was right next to hers, so that meant that she didn't have to go that far. There was no doubt that the castle looked extra scary tonight. Aqua didn't need to face more horror.

The bluenette opened his bedroom door, as carefully as she could. That didn't mean that she made no sound, however. After she closed the door behind her, she could hear how Terra sat up straight in his bed. It was dark, but still light enough to make out his silhouette.

He seemed to be rubbing his eyes, as if to check if he was still dreaming or not. When he was sure that he wasn't, he whispered, "Aqua? What are you doing here?"

The bluenette could already feel how she started blushing (she felt so silly). "The thunder... I can't sleep. Can I stay here for a bit?"

It was silent for a moment as he mulled the question over in his head, but then... "Okay. You can sleep on the other side of the bed if you get tired."

She let out a relieved sigh at that. "Thanks."

Since both pupils had queen-sized beds, and the children themselves weren't that big, the both of them fit in one bed.

Aqua curled up into a little ball, which was the most comfortable position for her. As soon as Aqua closed her eyes, she instantly felt better. She was also glad that Terra gave her a moment to compose herself, before asking her why she was here.

But he probably already knew that she was scared. After all, they didn't need any words to understand each other, or tell each other something. The comfortable silence between them said enough.

Aqua had started dozing off, to the point of nearly falling asleep again, but then the silence was broken.

"Why don't you like thunderstorms?" Terra asked, when his curiosity wouldn't leave him alone.

"'Cause they remind me of my dad. He died at sea when I was little. He was a captain."

"Oh... I'm so sorry."

"'S okay," she muttered, while basking in the warmth that the bed provided her.

Terra took a deep breath, as if he wanted to say something again, but he remained silent. He understood Aqua's pain. It reminded him of his own losses, before the Master had found him and saved him from the hell he'd been in. Still, whenever he felt sad, his mother used to tell him a story to make him feel better. Perhaps it would work on Aqua too.

"Hey," he started. "Have you ever heard of the Destiny Islands?"

Her replies came slower and slower, but she was still awake enough to follow the conversation (albeit barely). "...No."

"Well, they say that it's a tropical world, consisting of a couple of islands actually, where the sun always shines. Usually, the people who are lost at sea will find their way to one of these islands. Nobody knows how it's possible. It just happens, like some sort of magic attracts them. So maybe your dad is there, too."

"Yeah, maybe."

She smiled at that thought. It reminded her of that little bit of hope she still had, no matter how unreasonable. The mere reason that she'd been excited to come to the Land of Departure was because she knew she would be able to travel to other worlds too, to find her father.

"Terra?"

"...Mmm?"

"Thank you."