Isabelle sighed as she waited for the vaporetti. It was late, again, but that was the Italian Transit system. She took out her phone and glanced at the time, pulling out a few eyelashes in the process, her nervous habit.

She had twenty minutes till her first Uni class started, and there was no way she would make it. She glanced at the murky water, the houses around her shimmering from the light that seemed to fill each canal. Normally she stopped to enjoy the sight, peering beneath the waves for a glimpse of the houses below. Now all she could think of was how long it would take to swim to Piazza San Marco, and if she would need a tetnis shot, the answer was yes.

The bus slowly pulled up, and flashes of shutters could be heard from a tourist group on board. She quickly swiped her pass across the ticket machine before jumping into the boat.

When the boat finally docked on the edge of the Piazza, she ran her fingers through her shoulder length blonde hair. As she followed the stream of people off the boat, she frowned at her reflection in the canal. Her hair looked like she had been sucked into a tornado, not that she had any time to fix it.

Glancing up through the throngs of people and vendors, she could see her destination across the Piazza, Basilica di San Marco. She pulled her phone out, fumbling to turn it on. Five minutes.

The high columned walls around the Piazza seemed to close in, and she knew there was only one choice, make a run for it. She glanced at the ground which still had an inch of water from the heavy rain the night before. She pulled out a few eyelashes, making a silent wish that, for once in her life her clumsiness wouldn't get in the way. Then she took off.

As cold water splashed her ankles, soaking her socks to her feet, she weaved around people and stands. A few vendors yelled at her about jewelry and fish, and a few people she nearly ran into yelled a few choice words, but she didn't have time to stop.

Four minutes. She was a fourth of the way there. She had to duck as she nearly ran through the arms of vendor handing a woman her food. She yelled back sorry, but kept going, her eyes locked on her target.

Three minutes. She was half way there. She could still make it, she had to make it. She couldn't afford to be late again. She pushed her self forward, going as fast as her legs would let her.

Her phone cut through her concentration as it harshly buzzed at her. She waited until she had escaped the last line of the stands to check it.

Maria: "Where are you?! Class is about to start! Did you have those nightmares again? I'll stall, but it will only buy you a few minutes top."

She smiled, embracing the way her heart swelled. Maria always knew what to say, and she was the only one who actually took her night terrors seriously. Ever since the car crash that killed her parents and left her with amnesia, they plagued her every night. Maria was the only one she could talk about it to, her aunt just didn't understand.

She moved her thumb over the keyboard, but before she could respond a hard force sent her flying to the ground. Her head exploded with pain as it hit a marble stair at the bottom of the church. She grabbed it, wincing as she forced herself to sit up. Glancing over she saw a man pulled himself up, quickly grabbing papers that had scattered across the ground.

"I'm so sorry, that was my fault." She quickly picked up any paper in sight, hoping that none of them had gotten wet. She didn't try to read them, her aunt always chiding her for being nosy, but there was something odd about it. The "words" were just a bunch of letters mushed together in a random order. She stared at it for a second before he quickly pulled them out of her hands.

"I didn't mean to-, I'm sorry I ran into you," she stuttered. "Are you ok?"

He looked like he was going to speak, but when their eyes met he froze. Something crossed them, but it was hard to tell with how mushy they made her brain feel. Her heart did a weird flip and she was positive her face was bright red.

She had never seen eyes like his, except in her nightmares, then she constantly saw them. They seemed to be the only glimpse of hope through all of the fire, dark shadowy figures and sickeningly sweet smells that filled her sleep.

Even as everything moved around them, a few people actually pointing and whispering about them, it was like they were trapped in a bubble where time had frozen.

She shuffled uncomfortably under his constant gaze. There was something unbelievably familiar about him, but she couldn't know him, she would definitely remember meeting someone like him, or would she? She was missing all but five years worth of memories, so anything was possible.

She looked him over, attempting to act nonchalant about it. He was tall, probably around six feet, with dark hair and bright, breathtakingly beautiful teal eyes that glittered in the sunlight. He couldn't be more than a few years older than her.

His voice was quieter than a whisper, nearly lost in the buzz of the market, almost like he was scared she would hear him. "Sophie?"

Something felt… off. The name was too… familiar? She didn't know any Sophies though… Maybe it was the way he said it. She couldn't place his accent, it was similar to the British tourists she had met over the years, but different, crisper? She didn't know why but it tugged at her heart and forced a wave of sadness to crash over her, causing her eyes to water.

She opened her mouth to reply, until loud, melodic church bells cut her off. She was late, again. This was NOT good.

She forced herself to look away, hating how mushy his eyes made her brain feel. "S-sorry about your papers, I, have to go!" She pushed herself up, ignoring the stabbing pain in her head and her scraped knee. "Nice meeting you!" She quickly added before wishing she hadn't.

She quickly ran into the church, hating how sad he looked, how he stayed frozen like a statue. As bizarre as the confrontation was, she knew one thing, it wasn't nice meeting him. It was weird, very weird. There were no words that could match the whirlwind of emotions quietly swirling in her heart. It felt like someone had pushed her into the canal and she'd swallowed too much water. Glancing back as she ran into the door though, she knew one more thing, she hoped she would see him again.