A/N: Hmm... not much to really say here, other than the edits are coming along pretty nicely! I hope to get rid of some of the angst in this chapter because it is way too early for that... (but at least it isn't as bad as the Dolce story I had here earlier hahaha. That was a piece of crap.)

Hi ho, hi ho, to the edits I go~

"Doug, it's morning," Frey whispered to her fiancé, shaking him gently. It was half past seven but she had already done all her morning chores and tended to the animals, so she was surprised that with all the noise she made he didn't wake up. Though, she supposed, she hadn't fixed breakfast yet…

She giggled as Doug crinkled his nose, indicating he hadn't quite woken up just yet but was on the verge. Frey still didn't really understand what still took him so long to wake up; some mornings she would find him awake and getting the shop ready for the day at quarter to seven, bright and early.

"Mmn… five more minutes…"

Another giggle escaped from her mouth. "Don't tell me this is what it's gonna be like everyday?"

"Hmm? What?" Doug jolted awake suddenly, the sound of Frey's normal voice creeping into his mind. "What's going on?"

"It's time to wake up, Douggie."

"Don't… call me that." He sighed, rolling over onto his stomach. Frey rubbed his back lovingly, but after about a minute she thought he fell back asleep so she quickened the pace and pressure, hearing him groan.

She spun the emerald ring around her finger a few times, glancing around the room while biting the inside of her cheek. "Is that any way to talk to me on our wedding day?"

"W-what?!"

"Hahaha, just kidding," she teased.

He heaved a sigh in relief. "Jeez, you scared me. I thought for a second we'd have to get away from each other for a little bit."

Her soft laughing ceased and a shocked but amused look stayed on her face. "You don't really believe in that superstition, do you?"

"It brings bad luck, though," Doug said with that blank face of his. "I mean, it brings bad luck if you and your… well, fiancée, stay in the same room or general area the night before and the day of the wedding."

"What's so bad about it?"

"Erm… Well…" His face turned a light shade of pink. "I dunno, okay, but it's bad luck! So next month, the night before the wedding, we can't see each other. I don't wanna be cursed or anything!"

"All right, all right," Frey said, giving in, not expecting it to go on as long as it had. "Whatever you say."

She glanced over to her tiny kitchen area and then back to Doug, who was quickly falling back asleep. "Anyway, how do you like your eggs?"

He grumbled, "You should know."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Not really, no. All this time I've been switching between your tempura and fried rice."

"Rice? You're making rice for breakfast?"

Frey sighed but smiled nonetheless. "You only hear what you want to hear, don't you?" She crouched down near his head and began ruffling his hair. "Come on, get up! I swear, it's like you don't know how to wake up anymore after sleeping with me for a few nights." She caught herself blushing a bit but ignored it; it had already been several days, so why was she still embarrassed about it? They were getting married in just a matter of weeks…

He grunted in annoyance, not liking when anybody messed with his hair. "…mbled."

"Hmm?" Frey tilted her head in confusion.

"Scrambled."

…

"Jeez, I can't believe it takes Doug that long to wake up in the mornings!" Margaret said, being one of the earliest risers in the whole town, next to Frey and Volkanon.

Frey laughed sheepishly, wondering if Margaret was going to nag him later about that. "A-anyway, how have things been?" she asked to her group of female friends. She really hadn't gotten many chances to talk to them lately; she had mainly been staying inside with Doug all the time to plan the wedding and everything. Since Ventuswill wasn't around at the moment, they had to relay all the plans to Volkanon, who was a little less than ideal to play the role of the priest due to his…interesting moments of emotional bursts. But everything would work out in the end, she was sure of it.

If nothing else, it gave her and Venti something else to talk about once she returned, right?

"Ellie and I found a new kind of flower!" Amber said cheerfully, outstretching her arms and grinning. "After we plant it and collect its seeds we're gonna start selling it in the shop!"

The Earthmate smiled at her friend's innocence and listened as the next person, Clorica, began relaying her own last week.

"I got to catch up on some of my sleep, so I'm feeling rather chip…per…zzz." As soon as she started she stopped talking, sure enough snoozing right in the open, standing up. Frey stared at her and laughed half-heartedly, wondering if she would ever change.

"I also had the chance to catch up on sleep! It seems I received more, yes?"

The girls' eyes turned towards Xiao Pai, the girl with her hands upon her head as if she was confused.

"Mama made some really delicious stew a few nights ago, and it seems it was very pleasing for my stomach. I slept like a bump on a log!"

"That's not really how that term is used, but oh well…" Margaret trailed, giggling at the foreign girl. "Anyway, I came up with a new song, so I'm pretty proud of myself!"

"What kind of song is it?" Frey asked.

"It's just another ballad… y'know, slow and steady…" the elf girl trailed, embarrassed now, wondering why she brought it up in the first place.

All the girls exclaimed how much they wanted to hear it, much to Margaret's dismay. It wasn't that she disliked playing for people, it was just…

"Meg, why do you keep mentioning your songs if you're not going to play them?" Forte asked quixotically.

"Isn't it obvious? She just likes the attention," Dolce said flatly.

"Er, I – I didn't really think of it in that way," Forte tried to assure Meg.

Margaret just smiled nonchalantly. "It's all right. Truthfully, I don't know why I keep talking about how proud I am of my songs and then refuse to play them. I'm just weird, I guess. Hahaha."

"Dolce, that was a little bit uncalled for, though," Clorica spoke up, seemingly awake now. She was biting the inside of her cheek, but not in the comical way she usually did.

Dolce turned her head to the side. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm just a little out of it right now," she admitted.

"Is something wrong?" Amber asked, and at the same time, Xiao Pai joined in with, "If you're feeling troubled, you should tell us, yes?"

"It's just stuff at home. Don't be so worried."

Margaret waved her finger and stood in her motherly pose. "Now, you can't just act up like that and expect us to not be worried about you. Either you tell us what's wrong or we'll find out on our own."

To continue off of Meg's rant, Clorica added, "And believe me, we will find out – you can just ask Frey here. Remember what we did to scare Doug when he didn't propose to you right away?"

Frey grimaced and shuddered, but nodded to Dolce, who was also in on the action so of course she remembered as well. "Anyway, if something's bothering you, don't be afraid to tell us," she said. A lingering thought wondered what could possibly be wrong with Nancy and Jones, though.

"We're all here for you. Don't forget that," Forte chimed in with her signature knightly smile.

Dolce blushed and turned her head away again, unused to all the attention she was getting. "I-it's okay, really. I'll be just fine." She glanced back at all the girls though and smiled. "But thanks for worrying and concerning yourselves with me."

"Group hug!" Amber shouted, her butterfly wings protruding forth to show she was happy.

"Eh? Please, no – "

Before anyone could heed her pleads and "warnings", though, Dolce was surrounded by the girls and their arms. The color returned to her face but she couldn't say she disliked the warm feeling, both inside and out.

"This is so cheesy…" she muttered to herself.

"What do we have here?"

The girls pulled away at once after hearing the male voice from behind them.

"Who's the – oh, it's just Leon," Forte said after turning around and examining the source of the voice. She at once returned her sword to its proper sheath, seeing there was no threat besides teasing.

"You mean you didn't recognize my voice?" Leon's face turned into a fake frown. "That hurts a bit, Forte."

Frey just stayed behind the others while staring blankly at Leon, wondering what to do at a time like this. She hadn't seen him, let alone talked to him, in over a week, and that was when she broke it off with him for the last time. How was one supposed to act around a person who was her lover just days ago?

More importantly, though, why was he here anyway? Was he really just passing through and happened to see the conundrum going on? Or was he trailing her now that she could be out and about, hoping to tease her?

It was probably the latter option, she thought with a frown. It wouldn't do for everybody to see her like this, though, so she sucked up whatever was bothering her and smiled. "Good afternoon, Leon."

Everyone who knew Frey knew that she couldn't resist not saying a day greeting to whoever she met on the street. Even the tourists who walked around the town would comment on how friendly the princess there was, seemingly having so many duties but still having enough time to greet whoever crossed her path. That was just a trademark Frey thing, so if she didn't say hello to Leon, everyone would know something was wrong.

"Well, hello," he replied, his face unchanging. She remembered he was good at hiding his emotions. Well, she was going to have to be, too.

"It's early afternoon - aren't you normally in the bath?" Frey asked, noting the way the sun shone in the sky. When she left the house it was just past ten, meaning it was probably ten-thirty now, and when she made her morning treks through town, she'd always see Leon heading to the bathhouse at that time.

"My, aren't we observant today?"

"Why is it that you know Leon's bathing schedule?" Clorica asked, suddenly interested. She didn't seem too interested in hearing the answer, though, because she quickly fell back to sleep.

"Ahaha… I guess I'm just nosy," the mint-haired girl replied, laughing nervously with her hand on her neck.

Amber ran in front of Frey. "Do me next! Where am I at ten-thirty or eleven?"

A drop of sweat fell from Frey's forehead. "Well, um…"

"Don't you know? She's only observant toward men," Leon broke in, interrupting her thought process of how she was going to try and guess.

"Hey! It's not like I'm the one going around following all the members of the opposite sex every day," she countered, referring to his current position.

He frowned. "You wound me. I just happened to be wandering aimlessly until I stumbled upon this fine group of young ladies."

Frey's face scrunched up into a mixture of disgust and confusion. She wasn't sure if she was truly angry or just annoyed with him, but the next thing she said came out as icily as it sounded in her head, and she instantly regretted it.

"You're not being a man of your word."

By now half the other girls had retreated, either fearing the two when they fought or having other stuff to take care of themselves. Only Forte, Margaret and Clorica remained now, and the purple-haired girl was hardly paying attention, being asleep and all.

Leon seemed utterly defeated at that point. No part of his face showed what he was thinking, but the four girls who were left could only guess that he was trying, as usual, to come up with a response, witty or otherwise. Needless to say, he couldn't think of one, so he left without saying anything else, either too embarrassed that he was defeated or too defeated to even feel embarrassed.

Once he was out of sight, Frey sighed, not knowing why she said that.

"That was rather harsh, Frey," Forte scolded.

"Yeah," she replied softly, unable to think of what else to say. It wasn't even like Leon was bothering them – he was just being Leon! That was who he was, someone who bothered everyone, but it was funny so that's why he got away with it all the time. He wasn't harming anyone.

It seemed that she was the one with the problem and not him.

"I… should probably find him and apologize."

"That might be best," the blonde agreed.

As Frey began walking away, Forte and Margaret looked at each other with the same expression, wondering if the other knew what was wrong between the two friends. They both exchanged a glance with Clorica, who surprisingly wasn't asleep, but Margaret sighed when she realized none of them knew what was the matter.

"Should we pry?" she asked in a hushed voice. Frey wasn't too far away yet.

Forte shook her head. "I don't think we should. Not yet, anyway." She watched the young Earthmate's figure disappear into the distance. "She'll tell us when she's ready."

...

Knock knock knock.

When there was no answer after the first set of knocks, Frey tried once more. She knew he had to be in there; there was no other place to look in town and she knew he wouldn't travel outside alone at this time of day.

Knock knock knock.

"Who is it?"

"I-it's me, Frey."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "Go away."

Frey glared at the door but wiggled the knob anyway. Was he really that upset by her words? Well, she guessed they were pretty harsh...

The door opened without difficulty and when she entered the room she saw Leon just lying on his side, facing the wall. She huffed.

"Did it really bother you that much, what I said?"

She didn't receive an answer, instead only hearing very hushed exhales of breath. She exhaled her own.

"I know you're not sleeping, Leon; you just answered me a minute ago behind the door."

She still didn't get any answer so she decided to try a more direct approach. Frey waltzed over to his bed and shook him like she did to Doug that morning, except a little more forceful. If there was anything she knew about men at all, it was that they couldn't stay asleep if they're being shaken.

Leon was rolled onto his back and suddenly Frey lost all traces of anger, any hints of being upset thrown away as she was forced to stare into his eyes. His blue orbs pierced into her mint greens, threatening to bring back all the seemingly-lost feelings the two once shared. For the moment, it was only the two of them and nobody else in the world mattered. There was nobody around them at all, nobody to tell them how wrong this was, nobody to tell them to stop being so affectionate, and most of all, nobody to interrupt them. It was a world where only the two of them existed.

She searched his eyes for his feelings but when she didn't find or understand them she felt a pang of sadness wash across herself. Was she the only one who felt this way? Did she misunderstand their old relationship for just a way to kill time? Did he have any feelings left for her, if he ever did at all?

Was this wrong?

Frey's eyes moved heavily and frantically from his eyes to the rest of his face, from his cheeks to his lips, desperately hoping to find some answers.

"Hey... you're pretty cute when you're anxious."

She huffed, not knowing whether to be sad or angry after that. "Stop teasing me."

The Earthmate tilted her head up at the ceiling, trying to prevent stray tears from falling and also so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

But Leon wouldn't have any of it. He grabbed her chin with his hand and gradually brought her face down to meet his once more. "I'm not teasing," he told her sternly.

Frey averted her eyes but couldn't get away from his grasp on her face. "W-why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

It took her a while to form the right words. "Trying to get me to come back."

They must have stabbed at him a little bit harder than her words earlier; his hold on her chin loosened enough for her to regain control of it.

Leon instinctively wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer than they'd ever been before, even when they were in a relationship. He exhaled a breath of relief, just knowing she was there and for the moment was his and wasn't going away. He could feel her heartbeat colliding with his, creating a sort of bittersweet and monotone melody that only the two of them could sing. It felt so good, so right, to have her there in his arms.

But he knew it couldn't last. She belonged to someone else because he lost his chance.

"Hey," he said.

She sniffed and loosened her arms' grip from around his neck, glancing up at his face. His voice was so gentle, just like how she loved it, and the expression on his face could have made her heart melt if everything was right. She was almost mesmerized.

"I'm going to be a man of my word."

He got up, bringing her with him, and threw his arms around her again. "I haven't been the greatest to you, especially since last week, but I'm going to start now."

Frey hiccuped but didn't say anything, not entirely understanding what he was trying to say. She was going to question him but when her voice came out as incomprehensible squeaks he continued, saving her the trouble.

"You won't see me anymore unless it's your choice," he whispered into her hair. "If you want to make time for me, I'll always be here, but for now and possibly the rest of your life, we'll live as strangers, just mere acquaintances who live in the same town."

He allowed himself to keep her there for just a few moments more until he decided it was okay. He replaced his sadness with the signature smirk and pulled back.

"Enough of this mushy garbage. We both know neither of us is like that." He chuckled despite seeing her face crumpling into fear and remorse. "Go along and play with your boy toy, now."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, willing what tears she had left to stay in their ducts. She wasn't supposed to be sad over something like this. She and Leon's relationship was over - they were both just playing around anyway - so what was the matter?

She laughed quietly and sheepishly. "Okay. Well, what does this make us then?"

His face changed into its non-amused expression. "I just told you. We'll be acquaintances, just like how we used to be before all this started." When he didn't receive a response, he added with another smirk, "Don't tell me you're not all right with that?"

She pushed him playfully. "That's just fine. It gives me more time to focus on more... important things," she said, guiltily biting her lip. It wasn't like this was a waste of time, but she did have to admit, her and Doug's wedding was far more important than a relationship from the past, and speaking of Doug...

Tears nearly sprang forth from her eyes again at the thought of her fiance, and she got up immediately, almost regretting coming here in the first place.

"Well... I have stuff to do, so..." She rubbed the back of her neck, walking backwards to the open doorway, now impatient and eager to leave.

He smiled genuinely, allowing himself to be different for just another second. "See you around."

After she shut the door behind her and sighed once she got to the other side, his face contorted once more back into sadness. A day of wallowing in self-pity wouldn't hurt anybody, right? He owed it to himself to be honest with his feelings, at least for once in his life. This wasn't the end of the world by any means - he simply needed some time to get back on his feet, then he'd be good as new.

Frey leaned against the door and allowed herself an exhale of relief. Everything was finally over. She didn't feel completely satisfied with the way it ended, but she concluded that she would never truly be, anyway. At least she could resume her healthy relationship with Doug and enjoy her own wedding now. And she didn't have anybody angry or upset with her anymore.

She smiled despite the lingering sadness in her heart. No matter what happened, things were sure to start looking up with her wedding just around the corner.

~CGA