Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you all have been doing well! Now that the year is winding down and I have some free time, I finally got around to updating and getting done the first chapter of the sequel to Heartbreakers. I'm so happy to have gotten such support from the story. You guys are awesome.

I won't waste any time here. By the way, I had to have at least one short introduction chapter. There won't be too many more like this. Soon, the drama will begin. Take care and tell me what you think!

-Skye

Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the OCs that pop up in the story.

Roxas yawned, his mouth stretching to its limits. He kicked off the covers and ran a hand through his messy blond hair, staring intently at the clock sitting on his nightstand.

'Dammit,' he cursed mentally before he threw himself out of bed. 'I'm going to be late for class if I don't hurry up.' Roxas was not a morning person. Why he signed up for an eight in the morning biology class was completely beyond him. Initially, he figured that if he could go through an early class in high school it would be the same in college, but at Radiant Garden University where there were social events held every night, papers due every week and enough reading to drown a person, this was not the case.

Roxas grabbed his vibrating cell phone and stared at the screen. Naminé had called him at around six thirty in the morning to wake him up but he slept right through the phone call.

He smiled slightly. His sister knew him so well. It was a complete blessing that they had been admitted into the same university together. Even now, Naminé was looking out for him.

Luckily for him, Roxas was organized and already had everything packed away last night. He slipped on a hoodie and reached for his room keys only to pause for a second.

Roxas' hand slipped from the keys and he pulled out the drawer on his nightstand. Without much effort, he pulled out a very familiar picture. One that he had seen countless times. It was the picture he and Jasmine took at the homecoming of their junior year.

Back then, things were so simple (even though Roxas didn't think so at the time) that everything that happened after that seemed like a dream. What he'd give to go back to those days.

Roxas had not seen Jasmine since Christmas the past year. He and his sister Naminé went to Tifa's house the following day to drop off her Christmas presents only to find that she was gone. They tried calling her; the phone line had been disconnected. They tried communicating through email; all the messages were returned. They even tried visiting Tifa during school hours. However, come to find out from Tifa herself (who had been at the house during that visit) Jasmine was no longer living with her and that her location could not be disclosed to anyone.

From that point on, the group had never been the same. There was something missing and that something was Jasmine.

'I miss you,' Roxas thought before setting the photo down and heading off to class.

Naminé washed her hands and stared at her unfinished creation sitting on an art easel. She loved her early morning art class. Before the day began, she could clear her head and go on about the day without any worries or troubles.

The teacher's assistant headed out the door. "Great work today Naminé! Our November art show will be a hit for sure!"

Naminé bowed her head politely, her long blond ponytail flipping over her shoulder as she did so. "Thank you! I'll see you on Friday."

With that, the instructor left, leaving Naminé alone to her thoughts.

Now that everyone was gone, the blond headed to the back of the classroom and opened her closet full of finished paintings. She shifted through four or five before she found the one that she was looking for.

It was the painting she had done of Jasmine in their junior year. This piece had won Naminé a prize from the school. Those were the simple days.

Since Jasmine disappeared, things were so different. The second half of her senior year had gone by and it felt as though it was incomplete. But then again, she and Jasmine had been so close that having her absent was probably what caused the feeling.

Naminé grabbed the cell phone in her apron and read the text. It was from Riku.

"Roxas and I are getting lunch at the steakhouse. We'll pick you up in a few."

The blond replied positively to the text before sighing heavily. Riku took Jasmine's absence the hardest. On Valentine's Day, when Naminé, Roxas and Riku were sitting downstairs in the latter's living room, did he tell them that he had proposed to her after the concert and that she accepted, only to give back the rings, decline and then disappear without a trace. Naminé and Roxas knew that something drastic must have happened for her to have done something so…cold but Riku wouldn't hear a word of it.

Whenever her name happened to pop up in conversation (and the entire group knew not to speak of her while Riku was around), Riku's face would turn up into a sneer and he'd mutter "liar" under his breath. From then on, everyone made it a point to never bring Jasmine up in front of Riku.

Naminé knew better though. She knew full well that Riku was deeply hurt and was still madly in love with her, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She tried her hardest to help him through these tough times but after so long, she knew that Riku would have to get over this on his own.

Once she put away the rest of her things, Naminé grabbed her messenger bag and headed to lunch, the nostalgia of years past clouding her mind.

"Just like old times," Aerith said with a slight smile as she and Tifa sat outside at one of their favorite cafés on the Destiny Islands.

Tifa set her coffee cup down in front of her and grinned as well. "Well, not completely," she glanced at the engagement ring on her friend's ring finger, "Mrs. Fair."

Aerith blushed deeply, turning her head away. "I'm not married yet. The wedding isn't until April."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You guys have acted like a married couple for years. The only thing you guys didn't have was paperwork and a ceremony."

"By the way, I want to thank you and Yuffie for being my maids of honor," Aerith said graciously.

"Oh please, don't thank us. We'd love to. Yuffie isn't too happy about wearing a dress of course," Tifa wasn't joking when she said this despite the laughter, "but it's because we love you. We want to be part of your special day."

Aerith picked up her fork and took a bite out of her cheesecake. "Speaking of special, Zack told me that you're about to put another one of your restaurants on Radiant Garden. How does it feel?"

Tifa blew her bangs out of her face. "Exhausting," she admitted. "I just bought another house near the location. It's worth it though."

"And I'm assuming Cloud is coming with you?" This wasn't really a question, but more of a statement.

It was Tifa's turn to blush. "He says he's willing to move, but I don't want him to uproot himself for me."

Once Aerith set the fork down, she scoffed. "He's coming with you, Tifa. I don't know why you're so shocked and against it. You two have been living together since the year started. You're a family. Deal with it." She chuckled to herself. "Soon I expect to see a ring on your finger."

This made Tifa nearly choke on her coffee. She set the cup down and began coughing violently into a napkin, causing several patrons in the restaurant to stare at her.

"No way!" She coughed after she had composed herself.

Aerith chuckled. "We'll finish that conversation later. So," her tone became more cautious. "Have you heard from Vincent lately about Jasmine?"

Tifa's smile faded away with the mention of her absent daughter. The last time she had seen her was Christmas of last year. Things seemed like they were getting better until it was advised that Jasmine should live somewhere else for her own protection. While Tifa wanted nothing more than for her daughter to be safe, she still missed her terribly.

"He says she's doing well," Tifa told her, "and if Vincent says that things are moving along smoothly, then I believe him."

"Hard to believe the he and Sofia are related," Aerith commented sourly. "If it wasn't for the strong facial features and shape of the eyes, I wouldn't believe that Vincent and her were related."

Tifa nodded. "Between you and me, I see a lot of Vincent in Jasmine. They're both tall, lean have that amazing black hair…and the faces don't lie."

"I still can't believe he's so pale though," Aerith shook her head. "He's like a vampire or something. And then with those eyes? Whoa…"

"If Jasmine had his red eyes, they would look like a father/daughter combination for sure."

Aerith was hesitant with her next question but had to know the answer. "Will she be able to come to the wedding? I would love to see her after all this time." She then hastily added, "I want to see her and know that she's okay."

Tifa exhaled deeply. "Me too. Me too."

Riku's eyes creaked open and he stared blankly at the pitch black ceiling of his single dorm room.

"I'm sorry, but I love you…"

Her words echoed through his head, each one stabbing at his heart relentlessly until it was hard for him to breathe.

Riku shut his eyes tight, hoping to fight off the image of her untrustworthy, scheming yet gentle and beautiful face out of his head. This did not work.

As he lay in bed, thinking of their last night together, he could recall everything perfectly.

'We could have had it all,' he thought, imagining himself cradling her face in his hands before kissing her softly on her cheek.

Riku could almost feel her insanely soft yet scarred skin brushing against his, recalling the night they made love before she took off into the night without a trace.

'You ran off with my heart then.' His irritation was rising at the memory.

She had disappeared, leaving nothing but a letter and the rings he had given her to remember him by. She told him that she loved him, that she would spend the rest of her life with him, to never leave him.

'You're such a liar,' he seethed mentally; 'I hate you for what you did to me.'

A figure stirred in the covers next to Riku. When that figure turned over on its side, it revealed itself to be a young attractive woman a few years older than Riku with skin almost as pale as his, a short, thin frame, shoulder-length auburn hair and soft, honey brown eyes glazed over as if she had just woken up.

"Riku," her voice was so soft and light, like air. "Are you alright?"

Riku snapped out of his daze and wrapped an arm around her sheet covered frame. "I'm alright, Aria. I just had a bad dream." He softly kissed her forehead and pulled her messy hair out of her face.

"You seem to have a lot of those," she pointed out. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

Riku smiled. "Nah, it's just pre-finals jitters. I'll be alright."

Aria placed a hand over his chest. "I forgot for a second that I'm dating a freshman. This almost seems wrong to date someone two years my junior."

"I don't see you leaving," he teased.

Aria giggled and then kissed his chin. "No, and I'm not going anywhere." Within a few minutes, Riku could hear Aria's light breathing. She was asleep now.

Riku shut his eyes, hoping to block out the person who had brought him the most pleasure and pain out of anyone in his life. Jasmine had betrayed him after everything that they had been through together. It was clear that she did not want him in his life, so it was up to him to pick up the pieces and move forward.

'But I still want to see you…' he thought before slipping into a deep, heavy, restless sleep. 'You still affect me, even after all this time. Damn.'