❛𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄. | 𝘒𝘏 𝘹 (𝘚/𝘖) 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴 & 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘴

𝙸𝙸. 𝙰𝚗𝚝𝚒 𝙰𝚚𝚞𝚊 | 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝚇𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚝

𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜...

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭.

𝙸𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞?

— When you first met Aqua, a flicker of hope sparkled again within you. You had finally found another human being amidst the chaos of the Realm of Darkness!

— Aqua was not very receptive at first. Although you were happy to have finally met another person, she didn't seem to be as interested in you as you were in her.

— Although she was silent and often lost in thoughts, she loved hearing the sound of your voice as you babbled about yourself and your now lost world. Your speech was incoherent at times as a result of the darkness consuming what little light and memories you had left, but you were cheerful all the same.

— The first time she spoke to you, she asked you a very bizarre question. "Do you ever feel like there's a never-ending feeling of anguish and sorrow suffocating your heart? You struggle to break free from its malicious grip... I've fought for so long, but..."

— At that time, you didn't know anything about Aqua's past or the hardships she had to face on her journey. All of that pain, all of that sadness: you couldn't feel them, but you knew they had been haunting her for ages. You grabbed her hand and told her it was going to be alright, but she didn't give you much of a look.

— Sometime later, the two of you had managed to strike somewhat of a friendship. Aqua was still her quiet self, but whenever the despair was too much for her to bear, she would grab your hand and pull you a little closer to her.

— As a being of darkness, she was drawn to your light. You began hypothesizing such a thing, but you never once thought of running away from her. Even if you were going to give in to the darkness, you would never betray Aqua's trust. And you swore that one day you were going to make it out of that place together.

— Earning Xehanort's trust seemingly impossible. He's a callous, pragmatic man. One who's not afraid to fake his emotions and use even the ones he genuinely cares for as pawns for his plans. His younger self was no different, although, when the darkness had yet to consume his heart, he was more honest with the way he showed his feelings.

— It still surprised that you, nothing more than a domestic assistant to Xehanort and Eraqus' Master, had managed to strike a friendship with the two boys. Xehanort in particular didn't hide the fact he liked having you around, though you never dared to ask why. To put it simply, you were afraid to receive an answer you wouldn't like.

— His insatiable curiosity was his biggest quirk. He loved questioning you about Scala Ad Caelum's lore, though when the two of you chatted it was always you who ended up learning something new about your world. There were times when you wondered if perhaps he was playing some mean trick on you, but what he'd say in those occasions only made you feel more confused than before.

— "I like you because I like you. Is that so difficult to understand?" He would usually say, the corners of his lips slightly crooking upwards. That sly little smile of his would always fill your mind with a flurry of impossible thoughts. He knew what you were thinking most — if not all — of the time; the color of your cheeks always gave it away. But he liked feigning ignorance just to observe the way you reacted to every little thing he'd say.

— Then, while you'd be busy mumbling out an excuse to justify the cute shade of pink spreading to the tip of your ears, he'd always do something you only saw him do to Eraqus. He would give you a gentle pat on the shoulder to get your attention: then, he'd say that he'd be there for you just as you were doing for him, before casually walking away and leaving you frozen in a dazed and wavering state.

— Despite everything, you still loved spending time with Xehanort and you were grateful he felt the same. Perhaps you would never truly learn how to read him, but you didn't mind that too much: you trusted him with all of your heart and you were sure things were going to turn out okay if you just kept on trusting your feelings like you always did.