Well, here's the second chapter to my latest experiment. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Day 2

Forbidden Romance

Soul's POV

I slowly woke up to the smell of cooking eggs, immediately aroused by the intoxicating aroma. I was honestly expecting to see my bedroom back in the apartment I shared with Maka in Death City, but was met with the wooden walls of the guest room Snow offered me last night. That really wasn't a dream then…

My uniform was lying on the dresser, more than likely washed by someone here. I slowly put it back on, numerous thoughts running around in my head, the most prominent of which being if Maka is somewhere in this place with me.

Looking out the window, I watched Cocoon's sun- Snow said it was actually this fal'Cie thing named Phoenix- rise over the gentle waters of the Bodhum shoreline. Fal'Cie… god-like beings that provide for everyone on Cocoon… creatures with immense power, and use that power to pamper the entirety of the population of this floating "utopia"…

That sickens me.

I left the room walked over the entrance room of the NORA House. Lebreau, a member of NORA and the cook that keeps the House running, was already up and making breakfast for the rest of the group. She noticed me walking in, and wordlessly waved me over to the veranda. I noticed something around then.

"Where's Snow?" I had to ask.

"He left already," Lebreau answered. "Had a date with his girlfriend, Serah." The suggestive way she said that had me wondering what kind of girl this Serah person was. I imagine the relationship is largely approved of by many of the residents of Bodhum, the most prominent being members of Serah's family.

Maka's POV

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

The blonde guy laughed off the woman's demand, lengthening my mental list of similarities between him and Black Star.

I was honestly embarrassed for the young adult standing off to the side in this encounter. I had spent the entirety of the previous night searching for some sign of Soul, but eventually had to rest up at this spiffy hotel on the beach (they offered me a room for free in promotion of an upcoming fireworks festival). This morning, I almost immediately resumed the search after I ate breakfast, but I was interrupted from that when this scene started playing out. A tall blonde man had come over to meet with his girlfriend, a short girl with pink hair tied into a side ponytail. She wore these cat earrings, a translucent white blouse that showed her black undershirt, and black leggings. The girl was accompanied by an older woman who wore a military grade outfit and this plate on her left shoulder. The only reason that I could tell this woman was the girl's older sister was because of her pink hair.

The second the woman noticed the other guy, she went into this fit of rage while her victim seemed ecstatic at meeting his beloved's family. A crowd had started to gather during her rant, but neither of them seemed to notice or care. I could only imagine how vulnerable and embarrassed that poor girl was feeling.

I don't understand why the older woman hates this guy so much. Shouldn't she be waiting until he cheats on her sister before she starts chewing him out in a public situation?

It was at this point that the older woman just gave up the battle for now, and stalked away in a huff. Yeesh, talk about a constrictive family.

The next day

Serah's POV

Sigh… Yesterday was a fiasco. I knew Lightning would flip when she found out I was dating the leader of NORA; I just didn't expect her to do so in public like that. That was SO embarrassing.

I decided to just wander around today. Maybe check out the Pulse vestige. The history of Cocoon and the mythology of the fal'Cie and the War of Transgression 500 years ago… it's just so interesting to me. Imagine the discoveries that can be made concerning the history of Cocoon and Pulse. If one were to decipher the deepest mysteries behind the War of Transgression…

I wasn't looking where I was going at this point, so I ended up bumping into someone, sending both of us tumbling to the ground. I hastily scrambled to my feet, apologizing to this person the entire time. As I got a good look at her, I could see that it was a girl a little younger than me, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. She had sandy blonde hair tied into two pigtails and had these seemingly pupil less green eyes.

"Oh, you're that girl from yesterday, aren't you?" She asked. She saw the scene yesterday.

"I'm sorry about that. Lightning can be a little too headstrong sometimes."

The girl looked on in skepticism. "Your sister's name is 'Lightning'?"

"That's what she goes by." I looked the girl over one more time. She seemed friendly enough. "My name's Serah. Serah Farron."

"Maka Albarn. It's nice to meet you, Serah."

I smiled gently at her. Maka seemed like a nice enough person. I could trust her.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. I should probably get going."

"Wait, Serah… could you do me a favor?"

I kept eye contact with Maka. What could she be asking of me?

"Sure. What is it?"

"I'm looking for someone. His name's Soul. White hair, ruby red eyes, most likely wearing an outfit identical to mine. If you see him, let him know I'm alright."

I nodded my head at her request. It seemed harmless enough… and I could probably empathize with her. I could barely imagine what it would be like to be separated from Snow for an unreasonably long time. I quickly memorized Maka's outfit, just in case I did run into her friend. The two of us parted ways at this moment, with me heading towards the Bodhum vestige.

When I got there, the first thing I noticed was that the door was open. My curiosity was peaking at that point. Against my better judgment, I ventured inside the vestige… and soon after fell unconscious.

When I came to, I had been cursed.

There you go! Please review.