May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key Until We Meet Again - OTA

[aquawayfinder]

Open/locked?: Open
Who: Aqua and whomsoever finds her
What: Noticing her friends are missing
Warnings: Angst, sadness, possible war mentions. Kingdom Hearts nonsense.


Aqua was concerned when Æn'kae did not show up for morning lessons. She ran her class of course, planning to look for him after. Sadly, she couldn't find him. She waited until later in the day to check with Rren, and found them gone as well.

She'd seen this before, friends vanishing from a hub world, with no warning. So this was not a first. But still, it was a sad thing, and she would miss them.

Aqua was the Master of her emotions, not the other way around, but she was Master by way of actually feeling her feelings. So she could be found in the afternoon, once again up on the roof of the school, legs crossed, eyes closed as she meditated through her feelings. But she was willing to speak to anyone even while meditating, or while searching. And of course she always had time for her students in morning class.

Comments

[phoenixwiz]

He couldn’t believe that he was almost late trying to get to the first class he has. It was never in Harry’s intention to sleep through an alarm as deep as he did that morning. The alarm clock at his dorm room malfunctions on him very badly that Hedwig had to peck on his head just to wake him up. Understandably he is scared that he will get in trouble for being late like he would sometimes be at some of his classes in Hogwarts.

So there he was, running frantically towards Aqua and hoping to find where he find the classroom where the first class could possibly be located in.

[aquawayfinder]

She was outside where she usually held class, and chuckled when she saw Harry running to her. "It's okay, be careful. I'd rather you late and well than on time and hurt," she said, kindly. "Take a moment to catch your breath."

[phoenixwiz]

Whoa, did he just ran that fast? He could have gotten himself hurt if he had continue on running in the same speed that he was in so he did eventually take the moment to finally catch his breath after spending a good amount of time in the morning being in a rush.

“Oh oops. Thanks for the reminder, Master Aqua. I just woke up a little later than usual that my head was spinning just trying to get ready for school lessons in a hurry.”

[aquawayfinder]

"It happens sometimes," she said, understandingly. "I appreciate the effort. But remember, for any lesson to root in mind and body, mind and body must both be whole and in shape to receive them."

[phoenixwiz]

“Ah okay then. I understand now. I shouldn’t rush things too fast and not panic so soon at the same time. Guess that I sometimes forget that rushing everything will not result in a good end result especially when I spent nearly two years juggling multiple things and tasks in Avalon.”

[aquawayfinder]

"There are many times we have to juggle many things at once," she said. And so saying multiple metal cubes appeared in her hands. She began to toss them in the air, physically juggling them to demonstrate her point. "I find it easier to juggle from a stable base than I might, if I was running about at the same time," she said, catching them all neatly. "What about you?"

[phoenixwiz]

“Well that is, I think, a problem that I haven’t solved for myself fully. Back in my old world, I had a lot of things that were beyond my control and they did bother me for a long time. I even had trouble trying to control my temper and emotions during some of my worst moments too.”

He does feel rather underprepared to juggle so many things in one plate while not in a frenzied state like what he did earlier. Most Gryffindors aren’t exactly known for being mindful of their pacing in life so he does need some help on that department.

“I just worry that I may not be of a clear state of mind if I had to hurry or have so much to do. Do you have some advice for me to consider and try?”

[aquawayfinder]

She nodded. "One thing I would suggest is prioritizing. Often it can seem that everything must be done at once. However often trying to do all those things at once means that none is done as well as it should which makes of them only a stop gap measure; compounding the problem. By solving problems calmly, in a reasonable manner, you will find you have more time. A crisis is made worse by haste and made no longer a crisis with proper focus, attentiveness, and balance. We can start with meditation to help you learn mindfulness."

[phoenixwiz]

She does have a point. Trying to get everything almost all at once doesn’t resolve anything and makes a big problem to be more difficult to overcome. He has certainly learned it the hard way multiple times but, no matter how hard he might have tried, old habits die hard for him too quickly.

So now that he is far away from home for so long, he has all the time to get better in managing his time and improve on his shortcomings without being held back by the figurative strings that plagued him for so long. And he should get started on that by learning to do things in a more calm and reasonable manner and prioritizing his goals more efficiently. And also learn not to lose his cool too often and too soon.

“I honestly haven’t tried mediation before, but it does sound like a more calming way to handle things properly. And I really do need to work on prioritising matters better as well.”

[aquawayfinder]

"Alright, then we will start with a simple meditation for this first time." She sunk gracefully to the ground into a lotus position. Sit in a pose as close to this one as you can without pain, please."

[phoenixwiz]

“Got it. You mean, something like this?” Harry tries to follow Aqua’s lotus position demonstration, going to sit down on the ground and getting into the exact position without accidentally putting too pressure on his legs.

[aquawayfinder]

"Yes. Now, close your eyes, breathe in and out deeply, and listen to my voice."

[phoenixwiz]

Without wasting any time, Harry does follow through Aqua’s instructions as they begin this quiet meditation session. Shutting his eyes close, taking in deep breath and breathing out, and paying full attention to her voice as much as he can.

[hotheadwarmheart]

It was on the rooftop that Lea found her. Why did so many emotional moments in his life seem to happen on rooftops? He sat down nearby, leaning back against the parapet and gazing vaguely up at a passing cloud. Even with winter all but upon them, the skies of Auradon were still blue, though it was no longer the vibrant azure it had been when they'd arrived. Instead it was the paler shade typical of colder months, as if the sky itself bore a thin layer of frost.

"...I think this is probably the worst part of this involuntary world hopping," he said after a moment. "I mean, you get used to it, I guess. But that doesn't make it suck any less."

[aquawayfinder]

She nodded. "Making new friends is wonderful, but this is always the other side of that joy," she said softly.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Yeah..." he said. "Hope they made it home OK at least." It was really all they could do one their end, after all; hope.

He was silent for a long moment, before taking a deep breath. "I wish I could say that was my only reason for coming up here, but today it's not. I wanted to talk to you about a couple things related to my training."

[aquawayfinder]

"I am sure they returned where they were brought here from just fine," she said neatly side stepping the question of home. Because unless she was mistaken they would find themselves in the Hundred Acre Woods. Though she had to wonder if there was now a her there that was different from the her here.

"I never mind talking about training, Lea. What did you have in mind?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"OK so... you know I'm aspected to fire right?", he said. "Well one side effect of this is that I burn calories a bit faster than most people. Normally it's not a problem, but with the food situation getting tight... eventually it might start to show. I'll be OK, and I've been able to keep up so far, but if something doesn't change soon I might not be at 100% for awhile. Just figured you should know."

"But at the same time, I don't wanna skip out on things entirely, ya know? So I figured a good solution would be to work on my magic more than physical stuff for awhile. I've been wanting to round out my repertoire a bit more anyway, so this is as good a reason as any. That sound OK to you?"

[aquawayfinder]

"I am not sure that you won't find that working on your magic causes the same issues of increased appetite, but I can understand the desire. I am willing to help you train your magic as well," she said with a warm smile. "It is important to be well rounded. Do you want to begin now?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Ah but working with magic, I can make up the difference with a bit of Malia's magic-infused water," he said. "It works a bit like an Ether, but without the extra ingredients. Shouldn't go too hard one it, obviously, but in moderation it'll be fine."

"And if by 'now' you mean 'right this second' then no. Rooftops aren't the best place for magic practice. But if you wanna head down to the school gym we can do a bit of practice, sure. Most basic spells other than Fire ought to be fine to cast in there."

[aquawayfinder]

She nodded. "I am just worried we might be draining on her too much," she said. "But they are useful. And I have been keeping an eye on her as best as she allows. As for rooftops, depending on the magic it is safer than indoors for some. More than just fire magic. But outside on ground level would be fine as well."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Given that I blew myself backwards the first time I cast Aero, I'd rather avoid practicing on rooftops," Lea said. "And thankfully I don't chug the magic water like Mal does sometimes, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"And I'll practice outside for now, but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather do it inside when we can now that the weather's getting colder. Vexen might be in his element this time of year, literally, but I'm not."

[aquawayfinder]

"I can understand not wanting to fly off the roof like that," she said, having a brief moment of fear, but she Mastered it. "Alright, shall we go down and start while we can?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Sure," Lea said, getting back to his feet. "Any particular spell you wanted to start with? Aside from fire magic, I already know the basic Aero, Blizzard, and Cure spells."

[aquawayfinder]

"Cure spells are always useful to have on hand, so we can work with those to start. I also like spells like Aero. Other than the Cure tree, were you looking to learn new spells specifically or to strengthen those you know?"

And given how he reacted to Roxas' little stunt, she suspected he'd enjoy this next bit. She summoned her Keyblade and tossed it onto the air, turning it into the glider. "Want to take a short cut down?" Of course as she did learn from Roxas... and from Link... if he said yes, she was encasing them both in her armor. She doubted he'd jump off for the fun if that meant dragging her down with him.