What better way to celebrate the two-year anniversary of this story than to publish the unintended sequel chapter?

So, what was intended to be left as a oneshot has now become a twoshot of sorts. The ending of the first part was supposed to be purely comedic in nature, but now we have this. I just couldn't help myself. I actually started writing part two almost immediately after finishing part one, but I held back on publishing this even though I finished it a long time ago. There was a point where I almost thought I'd leave this story as a oneshot and just keep the second part for myself, but eventually decided that after putting in all the effort it was worth it to publish part two.

Long story short, I hope you enjoy Julius and Candace's interactions as much as I do. More laughs and straight up ridiculousness lies ahead.

Her Voice: The Sequel

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted at once.

It was the night after Julius' attempt to apologize to Candace. Not two seconds after he'd finally patched things up between the two of them, everything went down the toilet when he accidentally proposed to her. He was once again sitting at the bar, bitterly eating a plate of omelet rice. Somehow he'd been roped into telling his tale of woe to a very non-sympathetic audience.

"Let me get this straight," Akari said in a strangled voice. "You proposed to her?"

"Well, I didn't mean to –"

"Did you or didn't you?" Luna said. "I swear, Julius, I thought I told you not to do anything stupid. That was downright idiotic, you idiot!"

"Hey, that's kind of –"

"You really are a bastard," Chase said.

"Not now Chase – well, actually, never mind because I kind of agree with you this time," Kathy said. "Seriously, Julius, what were you thinking?"

"It just kinda slipped out, you know?" He said as he tried to defend himself from the barrage of accusations. "Do you think I planned to propose to her like that?"

"Obviously not!" Luna screeched. "It just kinda slipped out? How does one 'accidentally' propose? I say right on, Candace, for slapping him in the face."

"Amen," Everyone said.

"Hey, I didn't come here to get yelled at," Julius argued. "You guys are pretty harsh."

"And you're an idiot," Chase said. "You barely know her. And then you asked her to marry you? That's sure to scare any girl off. Not to mention that your earlier behavior could almost be classified as assault. I'm surprised Candace hasn't filed a restraining order yet."

"Akari, what do you think?" Julius asked in a desperate attempt to get someone on his side.

"Sorry, Julius, but I'm kind of with them. I mean, didn't I tell you to lay low?" Akari pointed out as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well, I did try," Julius muttered. "But it didn't really work out that way."

"What are we gonna do with him?" Kathy muttered to herself as she rubbed her forehead.

"What happened after she slapped you?" Chase asked.

"I swear you guys are just making fun of me," Julius said. He took a half-hearted bite of rice before downing his glass of water. "Anyway, nothing happened. She slapped me and then ran away. All in all, not quite the way I hoped things would turn out."

"Well, how did you think things were going to work out?" Luna asked, still frowning at him. "That she was gonna say yes and you'd have a wedding planned by next Tuesday? I mean, get real."

He shook his head and picked up his glass of water before realizing that it was empty. "I don't know what I was thinking."

"More like you weren't thinking," Chase said as he passed Julius a refill.

Akari let out a long sigh. "Guys, let it go," she said. "What's done is done."

"Thank you," Julius said.

"But Julius? I really think you should apologize to her," Akari said. As an afterthought, she added, "Properly this time."

"Apologize?" He said incredulously. "She slapped me in the face!"

"Because you proposed to her," Kathy countered. "That probably freaked her out more than you pushing her onto the sidewalk. Just be the better person and apologize."

"Alright," he mumbled grudgingly. "If it'll get you guys off my case." He stood up to leave and half raised his hand in farewell. "See you around."

They watched him go, a quiet settling over the bar. Then Chase said, "Julius, being the better person? Yeah, right."

Akari shrugged in a defeated sort of way. "He means well."

Julius was slightly less than happy when he woke up the next morning. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. The sky was a perfectly clear crystal blue. It was as if the world was mocking him, and Julius was in absolutely no mood to take that kind of sass. He glared at the happily swaying flowers outside his house before heading out to work.

After everything that had happened, was it any wonder that he was upset? He knew that was the sort of reaction he'd get from Luna and the rest of them, but he was still thoroughly annoyed with them for being so quick to blame him. In his heart of hearts, Julius knew it was entirely and completely 100% his fault, but he'd sooner be best friends with Chase than admit that he was wrong. Besides, he reasoned, why take the blame when it was so much easier to point it at Candace? They wouldn't be in this awkward situation if she hadn't said anything.

…This was hardly a fair accusation, but Julius much preferred to lie to himself than take responsibility for his screw-ups.

He arrived at work on time for once, settling himself behind the counter where he proceeded to examine precious stones. It was the only thing that could take his mind off of everything that had happened lately, and he gladly accepted the distraction. He threw himself whole-heartedly into his work, crafting more rings and necklaces than usual. Mira kept glancing over at him, a concerned look on her face. She'd never seen him work so diligently before, and it was almost more frightening than when he skipped out a few days prior.

This pattern continued for a few days. Julius went to work then came straight back home. He'd given up trying to find Candace after the first day. It was clear that she didn't want to be found, much like the last time she'd been avoiding him. Oddly enough, Julius was okay with it. He was perfectly content to let things stay awkward for the rest of his life, as long as it meant that he didn't have to face her again.

The universe was clearly conspiring against him, because on Wednesday morning he ran into the very person he didn't want to see.

Literally. It wasn't until he was on the ground that he realized he'd walked into someone. Rubbing his forehead, he said, "Sorry, you okay?"

He didn't hear anyone respond, and for a second he thought he'd run into a pole. Then Julius froze. There was only one person who talked (or didn't talk, as the case often was) like that. He jumped up so fast, Candace nearly fell over again in her haste to avoid being stepped on. They stared at each for a second before Julius started to make a run for it.

"Wait!"

He stopped, but not of his own accord. No, he would've kept running if it weren't for Candace getting a firm grip on his shirt and tugging him back. He tried not to look too upset, but he struggled to keep the frustration out of his tone as he said, "Um, do you mind?"

"I want to talk to you," she said.

"Well, that's a switch," he said bitterly. "But as you can see, I'm quite busy at the moment trying to get away from you. So if you'd just – let – go –" He attempted to yank his shirt back but nearly fell in the process. Candace was still planted on the ground, keeping hold of his shirt. His attempt to shake her off was going poorly, but Julius was willing to sacrifice his shirt if it meant he could complete his getaway.

"No," she said, and he was surprised by how determined she sounded. She was acting so differently from the shy girl he knew before. Her voice was beautiful and she was clearly working her charm against him in the hopes that he would crack. Oh, she was good, he'd grant her that, but Julius wasn't going to let her trick him into making a fool of himself again.

"Let go!" He exploded. "Didn't you hear me? I said, let go already!"

"No!" She shouted. "We need to talk!"

"What's there to talk about?" He said, still pulling at his shirt. "I'd much prefer if we never spoke again, thankyouverymuch!"

"Were you serious when you proposed to me?" She said, keeping her hold on him.

"What?" He said in exasperation. "Can't you see I'd much rather forget that ever happened?"

She suddenly let go of him, and Julius nearly tripped over himself. He attempted to straighten out his shirt but stopped when he saw how stretched out the fabric was. "Dammit, this was one of my favorites, too," he muttered.

"I see," she said, so quietly Julius thought he'd imagined it at first.

He stopped fiddling with his shirt. "What?"

"So you were just making fun of me," she said.

"No!" He said a little too quickly. "No, that wasn't it!"

"Then what was it?" She asked, the anger evident in her tone. "You weren't actually serious when you said that."

He hesitated, unsure of what to say. Akari's words from the other day flashed through his mind again. Julius tensed his shoulders, knowing it had to be done. "I'm… sorry," he managed.

She looked at him as if she were scanning his face for any trace of insincerity. In a small voice, she said, "I know you don't mean any harm."

He tried again. "I'm sorry."

Candace let out a sigh. "Sometimes sorry isn't enough."

"What do you want from me?" He asked, a note of desperation in his voice. "I don't know what else to say."

She looked away. "Neither do I."

Candace stood up and walked away in silence. Julius opened his mouth as if to say something, but he found that there were no words to express what he was feeling.

Things quieted down after that. Candace didn't seek out Julius again, and he did his best to avoid running into her (honestly, he had taken the expression a little too literally last time). This suited him just fine.

…Or so he thought. The truth was, he wasn't really sure how he felt about any of this anymore. After the attempted-apology-turned-proposal fiasco followed by the shirt-tugging-failed-discussion debacle, Julius reasoned that anyone would be more than a little confused.

And so several days passed by without incident.

Julius continued to work like a man possessed, furiously devoting himself to accomplishing things with maximum efficiency. Mira was thoroughly spooked by this point, and she cautiously kept watch on Julius from the sidelines. It wasn't until he burst into maniacal laughter one afternoon that Mira decided she couldn't let this go on any longer. Somewhat hesitantly, she finally approached Julius to get to the bottom of all this.

He was sitting behind the service counter, completely absorbed in shaping the sapphire he was holding. With the gem in one hand and his tool in the other, Julius made precise cuts along the edges, eyes narrowed in concentration. He held it up to the light to inspect it before bringing it back down to eye level, continuing to refine it.

Mira approached him slowly, took in a deep breath, and steeled herself for the conversation to come. She wasn't sure how she expected him to react, and with Julius being such a loose cannon these days, all bets were off.

"Julius?" She said.

"Hm?" He made a sound of acknowledgment, eyes still fixed on his work.

"Take a break for a moment, dear. I'd like to have a word," she said as she pulled up a chair next to him.

Julius set down his tools and turned to face her. He seemed normal enough at the moment. Mira took that as a good sign.

"I'm very impressed with how hard you've been working lately, but I'm a little concerned as to what brought about this sudden change," she said. Placing a hand on his shoulder she asked, "Are you alright?"

"No, I am not alright!" Julius yelled as he jumped up suddenly, a crazed look in his eyes. "Things were going great until that woman came along and ruined everything! So annoyingly beautiful with her accursed voice like an angel! Maybe I really did mean it when I proposed to her, maybe I didn't, I just really don't know anymore!"

He stood there breathing heavily for a moment before he seemed to realize his surroundings again. Mira blinked. Julius sighed. He sat back down and tucked a strand of purple hair behind his ear. He turned his attention back to her, smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt, and folded his hands neatly on the table before answering in a calm voice, "Yes, I'm doing perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"

Mira sat there, wide-eyed and slack-jawed for a moment. She cleared her throat and said, "I… see. I wouldn't normally ask about your personal life, but it seems to me that your work is being seriously affected by it. Are you sure everything's alright?"

"I'm doing better than ever! What's the problem?" Julius asked, the hysterical note creeping back into his tone.

"Well yes, that's true. But you just haven't been yourself lately," Mira said in a gentle voice. "And while I do appreciate all you've done, you seem far from happy with yourself."

"I…" Again, Julius found himself at a loss for words. This seemed to be a recurring pattern lately, ever since things went so horribly wrong. He slumped back against his chair with a defeated expression on his face.

"You don't have to tell me about it," she said. "I just want you to know that you have my permission to take the next few days off. And when you're feeling better again, you let me know, alright?"

Julius could only nod.

As they closed up shop at the end of the day, Julius prepared to leave as usual. He opened the door, but as he stepped outside, he paused. Looking back, he said, "Thanks, Mira."

She smiled as the door swung closed. Mira laughed lightly as she turned off the lights in the shop. "Ah, young love."

The air was cool as the sun set beyond the horizon. Streaks of color painted the sky orange as day shifted to night. It was a gorgeous evening, but Julius barely noticed his surroundings as he dashed across the pavement.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was running at all, but it seemed like the thing to do. He might've gotten an odd look from Owen and Luke as he sped by them, but Julius couldn't care less what they thought. If he really intended to go through with his plan, he had to hurry.

And hurry he did.

…At least until he ran out of energy halfway across the bridge down the mountain and had to stop to rest for a few minutes. He huffed and puffed with his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath. Julius straightened up and decided that running was overrated anyway and proceeded to walk the rest of the way home. Owen and Luke had, of course, seen the whole thing.

"What's gotten into him?" Luke asked as he resumed practicing his axe swings.

Owen carefully stepped out of slicing radius. He just shook his head. "I've learned that when it comes to Julius, sometimes it's better not to ask."

Julius safely arrived at his house and immediately regained his determination from earlier. The necessary preparations had to be made. There wasn't a moment to lose. He opened his suitcase and started to pack. He thoughtlessly tossed item after item into the bag, stuffing it down and zipping it shut.

Suitcase in hand, he set off across the Flute Fields bridge and headed towards town. There was no turning back at this point. He nearly made it to the docks when he heard someone call out to him.

"Julius!"

He turned and saw Luna standing behind him, arms crossed. She eyed him distrustfully, a stone expression on her face. Julius decided it was best to get rid of her as quick as possible. He adopted what he hoped was an innocent face, and tried to play it cool. "Why, Luna! You're out late."

"It's only 7," she said. Her stance clearly said she wasn't going anywhere. Julius realized he'd have to try harder.

He feigned surprise and glanced at his watch. At least he would have if he'd been wearing a watch that day. Instead, he ended up staring at his wrist looking like an idiot. Luna raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Julius hurriedly tried to recover. "So it is! Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got some urgent business to take care of."

She put a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a quiet voice. It scared him a little, considering she'd mostly been shouting at him these days. "Julius, don't do something you'll end up regretting."

"I've already done enough of that," he mumbled, wondering what she was getting at. "So what makes you say that now?"

"You're running away, aren't you?" She deadpanned.

He tried to act confused, but ended up looking like a deer in the headlights. "Whatever brought you to that conclusion?"

"Suitcase. Travel clothes. Guilty expression. Didn't take a genius," she said, pointing to each feature as she listed them one by one. "And lose the weird speech pattern. It's not helping your cause."

His shoulders sagged in defeat. "And I tried so hard not to look suspicious, too."

She rolled her eyes. "Julius, everything about you looked suspicious. Come on, there's got to be a better solution than this."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" He said angrily. "I'm at my wits end here. I've tried everything!"

Julius felt his cheek burn as Luna slapped him. He had the brief thought that her attack style was very similar to her sister's. Then his thoughts cleared, and he looked at her in shock, hand held up against his cheek. "What was that for?"

"Tried everything, have you?" Luna shouted. Julius flinched at the anger in her words. "Did you ever stop thinking about yourself long enough to realize that this isn't just about you, Julius? How do you think Candace feels about all this?"

The events of the past few weeks flashed through his mind like a montage. The failed apology. Candace approaching him. The time he'd jumped out at her and she'd fallen onto the sidewalk.

"That was pretty messed up," he muttered to himself.

And he remembered her face. Smiling at him before he'd ruined things. The moment she'd finally spoken to him. Julius refocused on Luna. The words felt foreign in his mouth as he said, "You're right."

"Are you done being stupid?" She asked, sounding less angry and much more like the snappy Luna he knew. "I'm guessing that slap finally woke you up."

"Yeah, it kinda did," he said as he rubbed his face. "But I guess I deserved that."

"Well, duh! So stop it with this self-pity act and go home."

He nodded, a smile on his face. "Alright, Luna. Thanks."

As he walked away, Luna shouted after him. "No more stupid mistakes, you hear me? Do it right this time!"

He passed by Akari, who turned to watch him go. Upon seeing Luna, she quickly made the connection and smiled a little. "I'm guessing this has something to do with Candace?"

"It always does these days," she said with a sigh. "Say, would you mind doing me a favor?"

The two stood across from each other outside the church overlooking the town. Candace didn't say anything, clearly waiting for Julius to offer some explanation as to why he'd called her out here… again. After a lot of encouragement from her sister, she had finally agreed to meet Julius outside the church for another attempt at an apology.

Julius tried not to look as nervous as he felt. He was determined not to screw things up… again… and so he glanced at Candace to try and gauge how she felt. She kept her poker face on and simply gave him a questioning look. It was now or never, he decided. And he started to speak.

"Hi, Candace," he said, inwardly grimacing at how awkward that sounded. "Er, how are you?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say, "Really?"

He cleared his throat. "Right. Sorry. Guess that was kind of a stupid question."

Candace gave him what looked like an almost smile. Julius took that as a good sign and tried again. "I wanted to talk to you. About everything that's happened. Properly this time."

She looked like she was about to say something, but Julius stopped her by holding up his hand. "Wait," he said. "Don't say anything yet."

She was visibly surprised. And with good reason, he thought. "I know that's not my usual prerogative, but go with me on this one, okay?"

The almost smile looked more like a real smile now, and he readied himself for what he was going to say. "We didn't really get off to a good start, you and I. Things were going bad even before the last time we met here, but this was where I really ruined everything. So I thought if I were to apologize to you the right way, I'd have to do it here again."

Julius took a deep breath. "Candace… I'm sorry. I've been stupid, and thoughtless, and completely selfish. You're a lot better than I'll ever be, and I hope that maybe you can find it in your heart to forgive me for all the things I did to you."

He looked at her, for once wearing a serious expression. "I just want to see your smile again. Because I'm the one that took it away."

And she did smile. It was a wide display of happiness and Julius could only stare, stunned, until eventually he found himself smiling back. Her eyes lit up with such genuine emotion that it caught him by surprise. Seeing her look like that made everything worth it.

She brushed her hair back shyly. Then she spoke. "Thank you, Julius. Even though you made mistakes before, I'm glad that you're able to own up to them now."

He shrugged in embarrassment. He wanted to say something cool, but it came out as, "Well, yeah."

"So, yes. I forgive you," she said. "Even for that ill-timed accident proposal."

"Thanks," he said, the relief he felt evident in his tone. "And I'm sorry again."

"It's fine," she said. Candace extended her hand, a curious look in her eyes. "So, friends?"

Julius took her hand without hesitation. "Yes and no."

"Um, what?"

"Yes, we are friends. But I'd also… like to be something more," he said. "I realized that it wasn't completely a mistake when I proposed. A part of me meant it, because I really do want to get to know you and I do like you, even if my earlier actions weren't the biggest clue. And I want to know if you'll go out with me?"

Candace's cheeks flushed with color. Her hair hid part of her face as she looked down quickly. She peeked back up at him, and said with a smile, "Well… okay."

Not too far away, Akari grinned. "Crisis averted," she said as she fist-pumped Chase.

As always, thanks for reading!