drabble request meme

This one's for jen_kat! My birthday twin! <3

Series: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

No title because there's uh, several drabbles *COUGHS* Sorry?

My version of pre-BBS XD; Terra and Ven PoVs.



Ventus had been much like a living doll when he had first arrived, speaking only when spoken to, only doing something when told to do so. He had improved over time, growing more lively and speaking of his own accord, but he still kept apart from Terra, Aqua, and even their master, disappearing for periods at a time. It was as if he didn't know what to do with himself, didn't know how to act around them, clumsy like a puppy finding its own footing.

Terra could only imagine what it was like to lose one's memories, and thought maybe Ventus didn't want to burden them by being around. Maybe he didn't want to see pity in their eyes. But this world was too small, too lonely, to remain alone.

That first day, when Ventus had been brought to their world, Terra had inadvertently caused the boy pain by asking questions which he no longer had the answers to. It had helped Terra make his decision.

He would give Ventus something to fill those holes in his mind, help him make new memories.

Maybe having a friend would take away the pain.



Terra's first attempt started off with a hitch. He couldn't find Ventus.

"Have you seen him?" Terra asked of Aqua, who was sitting in the library reading.

"Ventus?" Aqua shook her head. "I haven't seen him around all day. Try up near the cliffs. But Terra? Don't push where you're not welcome."

The cliffs. He hadn't thought to look there. But Aqua seemed quite confident that Ventus would be there, and when Terra went looking, he did indeed spot a blonde head near the top. Ventus was sitting on a large stone, staring out at the spread of the land below him. His feet were flat against a side of the block, his arms resting crossed on his bent knees. He didn't look hunched, but it did seem as if he was trying to make himself small.

Even though he was small enough already, Terra thought.

"Ventus."

"Eh?" The boy turned, surprise evident in his expression and his eyes. "T-Terra... what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you." Terra smiled.

After a long moment, Ventus gave a clumsy half-smile in return and asked, "Why?"

That was where Terra ran into hitch number two. He didn't know how to answer the question. He couldn't just outright say that he wanted to become friends. He couldn't, right? Terra racked his brain and what came out was, "I was wondering what you were doing. It's nice up here, isn't it?"

Ventus nodded slowly.

"I used to sit here a lot when I first came too," Terra said and laughed a little. "I liked to walk along the edge, and Aqua would call me an idiot lover of heights. I said that she was too serious for her own good."

"...the two of you are very good friends."

"We've been through a lot together," Terra shrugged. "Do you mind if I sit?"

"O-of course not."

Terra maneuvered himself so that he was closer to Ventus, sitting on the same block of stone. He thought he felt the boy tense up slightly and in an effort to hide it, began to talk. "Do you see that tree over there? That one, with the bent branch near the middle." Terra pointed it out and glanced down to see Ventus give a hesitant nod. "There's a nest of sparrows in the branch right above that bent one. I found it when training a couple of years ago. There were eggs in it; they were so small... Anyway, soon after there was a storm. This world doesn't get too many at all, and that storm was one of the worst in memory. So the Master said. I was so worried about the nest that I watched over it through the rain, and I ended up catching a cold."

He didn't know why he had started telling this story, but he couldn't seem to stop. Ventus never gave any indication he was listening but Terra wanted to fill the silence.

"The birds still use that nest sometimes, you know," Terra said, finally rounding up his story. That's when he finally looked down, and realized that the slight pressure he had been feeling against his arm was Ventus. The boy had fallen asleep against him sometime during his story.

This was a good start, Terra thought. Even if Ventus hadn't listened to his entire story, this counted as progress, didn't it?



It was a while before Ventus stopped jumping in surprise whenever Terra called out to or went looking for him. It took even longer for Ventus to start acting normally around him, and Aqua as well, but Terra was definitely making progress.

Curiosity would often brighten the boy's blue eyes, and he seemed to have endless energy, bouncing from one place to another with a speed that Terra couldn't match. In the beginning, he had searched for Ventus a few times, but Terra had learned, as Aqua had, that Ventus could eventually be found sitting near the peak of the mountain. That's where Terra found him that day, lying back on the grass, staring up at the evening sky that was beginning to twinkle with stars.

He remembered Aqua's warning, that he shouldn't push where he wasn't welcome. He remembered how much pain he had caused Ventus when he had. But the question was out of his mouth before he even realized he wanted to ask it. "Why do you like it up here so much? You come up here so often."

Ventus glanced up at him and then sat up. He seemed to consider the question for a fraction of a second and then he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just find it... comforting."

"Comforting..." Terra considered the word and looked at Ventus. "I think... I can understand."

Terra smiled slightly and a slow grin spread across Ventus's face.

"Glad you finally found a common point. Took you long enough."

They both turned at Aqua's exasperated voice to see her standing several yards away at the end of the path, a faintly amused smile on her face.

Terra and Ventus looked at each other and began to laugh.


++++++++++++++++++++


"Ventus sounds formal, doesn't it?" Terra asked Aqua as the three of them sat in the large hall, waiting for their Master to join them.

Aqua's eyes twinkled at Terra's question and she nodded. "Yes it does."

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" Ventus made a face. "It's not like I can change my name or anything!"

Terra grinned at Aqua. They had been waiting for that.

"How about a nickname?"

"Nickname...?"

Terra nodded. "We're friends right?"

Ventus blinked, the question not making sense to him in the flow of the conversation. There was the slightest of pauses, insignificantly short but nonetheless long enough to make Terra a little worried, before Ventus gave an emphatic nod and said, "Of course, we are."

Terra laughed, relief coloring his voice. He and Aqua had spent all their available time with Ventus, helping him with studies and training. They had talked, filling the silence until Ventus felt comfortable enough to talk with them. Terra didn't even want to remember all the mindless chatter that Aqua and he had conducted over the past few months. They had all learned things about each other in that time, as Ventus regained the light in his eyes.

They didn't know who Ventus had been before he lost his memories. If the Master knew, he hadn't told them. But once Ventus got accustomed to them and the life here, he turned into a completely different person than the one he had been when he first arrived. He expressed himself clearly, making faces at things he didn't like, speaking loudly when he had an opinion. When he was angry, he was like a mini typhoon, his brooding hanging over him like a storm. When he was happy, his laughter would ring out like chimes on the wind, bright and infectious.

Ventus would often act without thinking or considering the consequences, and would get scolded, but even their Master couldn't hold a stern face in front of him for long. He was also stubborn like a puppy with a bone, never letting go when he had set his mind to something. He had hounded Terra nonstop until he made Ventus an official part of his training sessions with Aqua.

When Terra had finally agreed on the condition that they start with basics, it had been a burden off his shoulders that he hadn't consciously realized he'd been carrying. Ventus could really apply pressure when he wanted to. The look in Ventus' eyes right now made him feel that same pressure. Part of it was anxiety, another was disbelief that Terra even had to ask the question, and then an unwavering trust in their bond.

Terra wanted to live up to the trust in those vividly blue eyes, and wondered if they had managed to fill that lack in Ventus's heart created by his lack of memory.

"Of course we're friends," Terra reconfirmed. "And it's a special right for friends to call you by a nickname."

"Really? ...Well, if you say so." Ventus shrugged his shoulders.

"What would be a good nickname?" Aqua asked.

"Ventus... Ventus..." Terra said, trying to figure out a good nickname. It wasn't that Ventus was a bad name. They all thought it fit Ventus perfectly, because he was quick and natural as the wind. But Terra also thought it was formal. There had to be something that would help integrate Ventus into their makeshift family, that would shorten the distance between them...

Shorten.

"...Ven," Terra said softly. "How about Ven?"

"Ven...?" Ventus cocked his head, considering it and then grinned. "Ven! I like it!"

"Then that's what we'll call you!" Terra reached out and ruffled Ven's blond hair. "I hearby name you Ven!"

Ven ducked away from him but Aqua threw an arm around Ven's shoulders and laughed. "Can't run away, Ven." Terra threw an arm around Ven as well, trapping him between the two of them.

"What is so funny?" Master Eraqus asked when he walked into the hall to find the three of them laughing.

Terra, Aqua and Ven glanced at each other.

"Terra and Aqua gave me a nickname," Ven said with a grin. "My name's Ventus, but my friends call me Ven. Sounds good right?"


+++++++++++++++++++


Ven ran his fingers along the blade of the wooden sword and imagined he held a keyblade in his hand as he swung it down. It was balanced well enough, though it was heavier than it looked. The sword was just this side of heavy, making his arms burn slightly from the strain after a day of training.

"Why don't I get to use a keyblade?" Ven had huffed, when Terra had shown up with and given him the wooden blade.

"It's not my place to train you with a keyblade," Terra had said, looking him directly in the eyes. "It's dangerous, and you're not ready yet."

"Yes, I am," he had insisted. "I can handle it!"

Terra had cocked his head slightly, and after a moment, said, "Let's see how you do first."

The training had been much harder than he had imagined, and Ven hadn't wanted to admit it but it was a good thing that they had started training with wooden blades. If he had been struck with a keyblade, he might have been bleeding instead of bruised in many places. And they weren't light bruises. When Ven looked in the mirror the morning after that first training, his body sore all over, he had seen the dark bruises and considered himself lucky that Terra had decided to be cautious.

However, in the heat of training, Ven soon forgot all about caution and would rush Terra when he thought he spotted an opening. And would often be knocked flying back in the face of Terra's counters.

"None of my attacks connect with any force," Ven complained.

"You're charging with brute force, not technique. You need to find a flow within your movements." Terra demonstrated, defensive guard changing into an attack that flowed into a parry. "See? You need to find your own style, not mimic mine."

He understood what Terra meant but it was hard to translate it into movements his body would follow.



Ven spent days trying to figure out a fighting style that worked for him. It took him several days before he could hit the target rings with any satisfaction, but it was nowhere close to the force that Terra had behind his attacks. The blade in his hand was lighter now, the wood chipped and scratched, whittled away by his strikes. He frowned down at it, wondering if it was better to get a replacement. He tossed the wooden blade into the air and then caught it, twirling it slightly.

He knew he shouldn't be playing with the training blade. It was supposed to be a weapon, and he should treat it as such. And yet... It felt oddly right to be holding the blade this way, differently. Almost like a puzzle fitting into place in his mind.

Like remembering something he had forgotten.

The blade extended behind him, the point angled toward the ground. Ven brought up his arm, and the wooden blade followed smoothly, hitting the nearby tree trunk with a loud clunk.

Ven glanced from the backhanded sword to the tree, and grinned.

Maybe playing around wasn't such a bad idea after all.



"Ven, what did you want to show--" Terra paused when he reached the top of the hill and blinked. He wasn't imagining things, right? "Ven... you're holding the blade backwards."

"I know." Ven's eyes seemed to be dancing as he laughed, walking closer. "I'm trying something new."

Terra had never seen anyone hold a weapon the way Ven was now, the blade extended behind instead of in front, closer to his body like it was a part of him. "Is that what you've been doing this entire time?"

It had been weeks since Ven had joined him or Aqua for any training sessions. He had spent time with them as usual, eating meals together, talking, studying, anything that had not been training. Ven had just given a secretive smile whenever Terra asked what he was doing. He had even stopped in the middle of training when Terra found him on the other side of the mountain one day, and now Terra knew why.

"Did you finally figure out your own style?"

"Yeah," Ven grinned. "I think I managed to work it out but there are still some kinks. Wanna help me test it out?"

"Ven, can you really fight like that?" Terra said, his voice sounding unsure even to his own ears.

Terra hadn't even noticed the wooden keyblade lying against a tree but Ven reached over, grabbed it, and tossed it over to him in one fluid movement. Terra caught the hilt without even thinking. Ven's eyes gleamed with anticipation, and Terra didn't think he could refuse him.

He didn't really want to anyway. He wanted to see what style Ven had invented for himself these past few weeks.

A corner of his mind wondered if Master Eraqus had known what Ven had been doing, and then he didn't have the luxury to wonder anymore as Ven closed in on him with a speed much faster than Terra had imagined. Had Ven grown faster? Or had he grown slower? Terra barely managed to get his blade up to parry in time. His counter was instinctive, worked into his body by countless hours, remembering better than his surprised brain. But Ven's blade wasn't where Terra expected it to be. He saw it sliding toward him in an upward slice and jumped back.

Ven grinned at him, the blade twirling in his hand. "Don't hold back on me, Terra!"

Terra couldn't stop himself from grinning back. "Wouldn't dream of it."

In the end, there was neither winner nor loser. Only the two of them lying on the ground next to each other, panting for breath with broken wooden blades lying next to them.



"When am I gonna get stronger? I train and train but..." Ven sighed.

Terra completed his set of pushups before turning and sitting, laughing slightly. "Strength isn't everything, Ven."

Ven shuffled his feet and kicked a rock that he found instead of replying. It bounced on the ground several times before it hit the mountainside.

Terra liked being where he could feel the world, the nature, around him, so he often chose to come to the mountain peak for training when given a choice. Ven followed him more times than not now.

"We all have our strong and weak points. I may be able to deliver fatal strikes more often but Aqua's magic is far stronger. Ven, you're quick on your feet. That speed is a good weapon. The Master said so, didn't he?"

When Master Eraqus had officially announced that Ven would be training with them, he had described their attributes. Terra was like the deep earth, full of strength but slow to move. On the other hand, Ven was like the playful wind, weaker than the earth but quicker in movement. Aqua was like flowing water, sure in her path but easily disrupted. Each of them had strengths they must nurture and weaknesses they must learn to overcome them in an effort to better protect the light.

"Why do you want to be stronger anyway?"

Ven glanced at Terra, a rather cheeky smile on his face. "Speed is good, but I need more than just that to beat you."

He had expected something like Ven wanted to be stronger to protect his friends but... "You want to beat me?" Terra asked in surprise.

"Yeah!" Ven exclaimed, surprising Terra even more with the determination in his voice. "If I do, maybe you and Aqua will stop treating me like a kid." Ven's voice fell slightly on his last few words. "I'm not a little child."

Terra looked up at Ven from where he sat on the grass. Ven certainly had grown, gaining an inch or two in height though he hadn't managed to put much muscle on his lean body, no matter how much he worked out with Terra. He had also matured, being willing to listen and compromise where he had once been unmoving and stubborn, but Ven was still a child. There were still so many things he didn't understand.

Terra shook his head and laughed. "I'll be ready for you anytime you want to challenge me, Ven."

Ven knocked arms with him. "Just you wait! I'll beat you."