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Living in The Land of Departure is enough to drive you insane..Aside from Aqua herself, Master Eraqus and Terra were the only two people who lived in the world with her ever since she moved in to become a master herself. And she had lived there for at least five years with a man whose definition of an evasive manoeuvre is doing cartwheels until you can literally dodge through an explosion at point blank, and a teenager who regularly eats protein powder out of the can because he didn't read the instructions on how to prepare it beforehand.She had past the point where she would've gone insane from the master's outlandish sternness and Terra's recklessness a while ago, though. She managed to avoid going insane by crafting stuff in her free time, much like she did before she got the keyblade and her own world fell into the darkness. She usually bought her materials from a single Moogle who visited the world every now and then, and made small charms, figurines and toys enchanted by her keyblade's magic. They weren't particularly useful in combat. But at least they gave her a purpose to fulfill as she endured Eraqus’ merciless training.So, when the shadiest and most suspicious person ever alive, Master Xehanort comes to their castle and drops an amnesiac young boy under Master Eraqus care, Aqua decided to take him under her wing to shield him from the other two's strange habits, as he was likely to lack any kind of coping mechanism due to the amnesia.♥♥♥♥Ventus liked the land of departure. It was a beautiful place to live, and the group of people he lived with were pretty lively.Master Eraqus was an strict but kind man. Occasionally letting him do less training that Terra and Aqua, and wasn't as strict with him (Rolling through explosions is easier than cartwheeling into them. Not necessarily safer, but definitely easier.).Terra was a very cool guy. He always did his best to make Ventus have a fun time, and gave him his old Wooden keyblade as forgiveness for causing him a three months Coma that one time.However, out of all the three people in the world, Ventus liked Aqua the most.She was the very first person he saw after waking up from his coma and was definitely the most kind out of the others. She managed to convince Eraqus to give him less demanding training regimes a few several times, bailed him out of the many shenanigans Terra got involved in, healed him whenever he failed to do a trick on his keyblade glider immediately after he learned that he could make one. Not to mention that some of the stuff in his room were books and charms given to him to him by Aqua, including an enchanted figurine that kept the plants in his bedroom watered and healthy..Ven, having such a pure heart, also tried to reciprocate that kindness. He often gave her a blanket whenever she fell asleep while studying a magic grimoire, serve as test subject for her relatively harmless magical experiments, and partaking in her crafting hobby everytime he could.He loved the way she smiled at him whenever he did the latter with her. Apparently, the people at her world were mostly artisans. And seeing someone sharing the passion for craftsmanship made her heart flutter with nostalgia.So, one day, Ventus decided to make something for her. If only to see her smile.♥♥♥♥“So… nervous about the Mark of Mastery Exam?” Ventus asked the young woman, who was polishing small pieces of an orange crystal on her worktable. “The master said It would be in a month or so.”“Not really, Ven.” She answered, not lifting her gaze from her current task. “Knowing the master, probably the test will be only a combat exam against something dumb like light drones.”“And what if your opponent is Terra?” The curious boy asked as he peeked at Aqua's work.“If that's the case, then I guess that Terra will be a great master.” She said.“Will you let him win against you?” Ven asked.“Nope. I'll do my best to try and beat him.” Aqua answered once again. “But it's highly probable that I might lose that fight“How come?” He said. “You’re very strong.”“Terra once destroyed a thousand light drones in an hour after the master took away his allowance, Ven.” The magician explained. “If he did that for a thousand munny, imagine what he could do to pass the test.”“Wow…” Ven said in awe.“Yeah.” She raised the piece of glass to examine it, deeming it as perfect before setting it aside. “We should be thankful he is our friend, who knows what could he do if one day he snapped.”“Remember me to never get on his bad side.” The boy said.“He probably doesn't even have one.” Aqua said as she took an opaque piece of green crystal. “He’s still a very kind person beneath the Hakamas and his muscly exterior.”“Why the Hakamas?” The blond boy said confused.“They look kind of dumb if you ask me.” She said smiling as she started to polish the crystal. “I remember that you even used all of them as a tent one night.”“Yeah, that night was fun.” He admitted.Then the two of them fell silent for a little while. Ven sat down on Aqua's bed while she was still polishing another part of the crystal she had.Eventually, Ventus broke the silence.“So, huh… Do you remember when you tried to teach me how to craft something?” He said. A faint blush appearing on his face.“Yes.” She said. “You almost stitched your own finger into the fabric you were working on.”“Well… I, huh…” He stuttered a bit. “ I have been practicing what you taught me and, huh… I made something?”“Really?” The young woman said, putting aside her current project. “Can you show it to me?“S-Sure! Let me get it for you!” The boy said excitedly before bolting out of the room of his friend, running to the other side of the castle towards his room and returning to Aqua's bedroom in less than a minute.He entered the room with his hands behind his back, hiding the thing he made away from her gaze.“Please close your eyes for a second.” He asked her.“Okay.” She complied. “Good.” He said before placing the object he was holding in front of her. “Now open them.”And so she did, finding a smaller version of her in front of her. A Mini-Aqua made out of cloth and cotton instead of flesh and bone.“Ta-dah!” Ven said. “I made a mini you.”He handed the small plush toy to her, who would then see it more closely.It resembled a cartoony version of herself, it had a large head covered by a piece of deep blue felt stylized as her hair, and had a pair of black buttons placed vaguely around where the eyes should've been.The body meanwhile, was really small, and it showed that Ventus really tried to capture the details of her attire despite his low skill, giving the toy a pair of shoes and using gray felt to make her armor. The rest of her attire was made of cotton, and it was just a bit mismatched in certain parts, like her skirt's tails being different types of fabric and her left sleeve being shorter than the right one.It even had a crude, miniature version of her Rainfell made out of pipe cleaners sewn into her hand.Ventus just stared at her with puppy eyes, waiting for her validation.“I love it, Ven!” She said happily. “You must have spent a lot of time doing it.”“It was nothing.” He said. His blush growing redder by the second. “I’m glad you like it.”“You should do one for Terra!.” Aqua Commented. “I’m sure that he would love it.”“Y-You think so?” The boy said nervously.“Of course!” She said “Terra would think it looks cool.”“I dunno…” He said. A deep blush flaring up in his cheeks. “It took me a lot of effort to do this one.”“Just take your time and practice Ven.” Aqua said, ruffling his short, blonde hair with the hand that wasn't holding her smaller self.“O-Okay.” The boy said as Aqua turned back to work on her project. Placing the small gift on top of a little bookshelf above her worktable.Suddenly, he felt very embarrassed to be in the same room as her at the moment. So, he made an excuse to get out of the situation he made.“A-Anyways, I’m really glad you liked the mini you.” he said as sweat dripped visibly from his forehead. “And i would love to ask you for advice on crafting. But I kinda remembered that I was going to help Terra train tonight.”“That sounds great Ven!” She said. “Just don’t go to sleep very lately.”“I won’t!” He said nervously as he walked backwards to the door. “Good luck with whatever you’re doing!”The blonde boy then ran as fast as he could towards Terra’s bedroom, leaving a small trail of dust in his wake.Aqua stared a the cloud for a second before letting out a small chuckle. “I’m really glad you’re here with us, Ven.” She said with a smile before returning to polish the crystal for his wayfinder. Maybe she could finish them before the test.