3rd link )( day )( video

[destinedwaters]

[The feed clicks on briefly to show the young Keyblade Master sitting alone at the beach with a very... peculiar tree in the background, a faint smile crossing her lips as she sat there in thought for a brief moment before she spoke.]

I never thought... I would see this beach again.

[There's a quiet, nostalgic laugh escaping her before she turns

Comments

voice;

[savior_n_black]

I'm guessing that's a special place to you, then, Aqua-san?

voice;

[destinedwaters]

Yes. One that belongs to two good friends of mine.

Nice to hear from you again, Ichigo.

voice;

[savior_n_black]

Yeah, you too. I was starting to wonder what you were up to, actually.

[ You can't see now, but Ichigo is squinting at the original video. ]

Is that...Sora's island?

voice;

[destinedwaters]

Oh, sorry. I suppose I got caught up in teaching my students.

[She laughs quietly to herself, and he can't see it, but she gave a slight nod.]

Yes, I believe so.

voice;

[savior_n_black]

So do you all come from that island? Like, were you raised there, or something?

voice;

[destinedwaters]

Oh, no! [That surprised her a little bit.] I was... raised inside a castle most of my life. I've only been to this island once before.

voice;

[savior_n_black]

Oh. Sora said he grew up there, so...yeah. Wasn't sure if that's how you guys knew one another.

voice;

[destinedwaters]

[She laughs quietly. How to say this without the little voice in the back of her head that sounds eerily like papa Master Eraqus scolding her...]

I've... just visited many different places. Most of my friends are from different places.

voice;

[savior_n_black]

[ Her hesitation isn't completely lost on Ichigo, but he's not going to pry too hard either. ]

Aqua-san...how do you know Sora? He said you were his teacher. And I've seen Sora fight, he's really something! Did you teach him that?

voice;

[destinedwaters]

[It's probably the best. She's... still getting used to world order equating to completely shattered in this place. ...Two months later.]

I visited his islands a decade ago for him once. I've taught him some since I arrived, but most of what he knows was what his friends and Keyblade showed him along the way.

voice;

[savior_n_black]

The more I hear about those 'keyblade' things, the more it sounds pretty much like a zanpakutou.

[ Actually, it sounds like Ichigo's experiences with his own sword teaching him how to fight, rather than the norm for shinigami combat education, but he doesn't have much basis for comparison. ]

Can I ask...um...does the keyblade let Sora...erm...absorb powers? Like, permanently?

[ He's going somewhere with this, and is very reticent to talk about it if Sora hadn't mentioned it yet. Which is likely since Sora probably has no memory of turning into a hollowfied-heartless during the Friendly Reminder event ]

voice;

[destinedwaters]

Hm... I got the same feeling when talking with Shiro a while ago, actually.

[She pauses, thinking about it. Honestly, she has no idea about all the similarities other than what has been said aloud already, but that little idea.]

...Absorb? I'm not entirely sure. Sometimes it depends on the particular blade, but-

[She shakes her head, pausing just the fraction of a second.] Why do you ask?

voice; locked

[savior_n_black]

[ Well, he doesn't want to get Sora into trouble or something, but just to be safe, adding a lock to this. No this hasn't been worrying at Ichigo for a while, what are you talking about? ]

Because when the sky went dark, and all those things were attacking people...something happened. Something between Shiro, and Sora.

I-I'm not sure what, exactly, because I didn't see it, and Shiro just said he "pulled on something that was already there" but...

...um...

...Sora-looked-and-felt-like-a-hollow.

[ Yes that all came out in a rush. ]

He was different. All darkness with a Chain of Fate hole, yellow eyes, and he...well, he looked like a hollow.
He snapped out of it, though! And didn't know what I was so freaked out about, either. He didn't remember any of it. But I was just...you know...worried it might stick?

voice; locked

[destinedwaters]

[She notices that lock, adding onto the encryption with her own. If she knew what all it was about, she wouldn't blame him at all.]

...What?

[Okay, now this has her attention and she is listening carefully. Aqua has no idea just how deep it went, but she knew that dark power... and saw what happened in the aftermath.]

Like how he was with Vanitas around...

[Yes, she did just mutter that and with how things have been during training. Seeing that fear in his eyes and recalling how much he'd clung to her as they moved to the safety of Professor Xavier's Mansion... She's been worried for him, too.]

If I didn't known better, I'd say he'd momentarily turned into a Heartless- [!! Wait, what Axel said... and Roxas claiming to be his Nobody...] You said that Shiro pulled on something already there?

[He pulled on his darkness, hadn't he--temporarily let the Heartless in him come out to the surface.]

voice; locked

[savior_n_black]

Yeah, that's what he said.

[ Welp. Now Ichigo is officially worried, and feeling pretty guilty about it all. ]

Who is this Vanitas guy to you?

[ Because it's not the first time he's heard the name. ]

Aqua-san, please don't tell me I-- er, we did something permanent to Sora. It was crazy, and Shiro probably saved his life with that, but...I didn't even know it was possible for Shiro to share powers with anybody but me!

voice; locked

[destinedwaters]

[She's silent for a moment, wondering just how much to say over the network and how much would be best in person.]

If what Shiro says is true, then he already had that power to begin with. Power of any kind sleeps within everyone... it just needs to be unlocked.

[It's a thought she cringes at, and all the same... she knew it had been within Terra once before as well, only not for the same reasons.]

...I think this discussion is probably best for a face-to-face meeting, Ichigo.