Disclaimer: I do not own Dissidia, FFVII, FFVII:CC, FFVIII, or ATLA.

A/N: Sorry it took so long! I'm really focusing on Anything For You right now. I just wanna get it done! lol Once it's done, then I can come back to WMIN, and TIaTL, and Speeding Cars. Well, I'm expecting about nine chapters in Anything For You, and then I will bring all my focus back to those three! I also want to bring back Blood, and Roses Are Red. Anyway, this chapter will be easy, sort of, I'm actually not sure! haha We'll see how it goes. Mostly just conversation for a while. Hope you like!

What Matters Is Now

Chapter Six

Hikari's POV

My eyes snapped open, and I felt weightless. Colors rushed past me, and an awful ringing began in my ears, and I cupped my hands to them but it didn't help. I shut my eyes, willing the terrible sound to go away, make this rushing stop, halt the tugging feeling in my chest...

I opened my eyes again, in bed in Demi's room, same as last night. The sheets were finely pressed and tucked under the bed, feeling like an itchy straight-jacket against my sweaty skin. I fidgeted this way and that, trying to get out without waking Demi, who was already mumbling and turning away from me in sleep. I was convinced that one of those mutterings was Squall's name, and a huge smile spread on my face as I landed on my feet. Oh yeah, they were definitely hooking up.

As if irritated by my happy mood, and sadistically wanting to cause me pain, the ringing in my ears returned, and I winced, stumbling and knocking my shoulder against the wall.

Just as soon as it began, it stopped. I blinked, my eyes wide in the utter darkness, and furrowed my brow. What was going on? Was I having a migraine or something? I'd never had a migraine before, so it was possible. I certainly had a strange headache...

I tiptoed out of her room, suddenly drastically thirsty, and pondered. Maybe I was just disoriented because I'd gotten up so fast after lying down. That happened to me sometimes, and all the blood would rush to my head and I'd get dizzy. Yes, that must be it. And that weird rushing feeling was probably just me getting out of my dream state. Or maybe it was a dream. My head hurt. I stopped thinking about it.

I spotted a light on down the hallway, and smiled a little. So Laguna was in the kitchen again tonight.

Then I frowned. Wait, I'd just kissed him. No, that was a dream, the rational side of me said. But it was so real! I could feel everything that happened: the electricity, the passion, my heart and his racing together as our bodies clashed...

My cheeks flushed, and I stopped outside the kitchen, taking a deep breath to calm myself. That couldn't have been a dream, I thought. Dreams can't be that real, can they?

Sufficiently peachy, and not beet red, I walked into the kitchen, blinking tiredly at the light, even though it was relatively dim compared to any other light in the house.

Laguna noticed me immediately and offered me a smile. "Hey there," he said.

"Hey," I answered, tossing him a grin and sitting down across from him. I shook my head and blushed, realizing my mistake and getting back up again. "Forgot my water," I muttered, pointing toward the cupboards with the glasses.

Laguna chuckled and returned to his papers, seeming more to skim them then actually read them.

I poured myself some water, and a thought occurred to me. "Hey, Laguna," I said.

"Hm?"

"How did you do in school?"

Laguna set his paper down and took off his glasses, turning in his chair to look at me. "What?" he asked, smiling a little at the oddness of my question. "Where did that come from?"

I shrugged and walked around the table to sit across from him. "Well, last night we talked about my Garden. You already know that I wasn't the most... diligent student," I explained, trying to find a polite word for how much of a slacker I was. "So what were you like? What was the President of Esthar's education like?" I took a drink of water and looked at him expectantly.

Laguna leaned back in his chair, thinking about his answer. Probably thinking of a polite way to say that he was a slacker, too, I thought, and smiled.

Finally, he leaned forward and put his elbow on the table. "It actually wasn't what you would think," he told me. "For a while, I was actually a pretty good kid. You could even call me the 'teacher's pet'." He laughed a little at this.

I nearly spit out my water. "Are you serious?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yup. Crazy, right?"

"Mm-hm. I never would have guessed. So what happened?"

Laguna sighed. "Well, in high school I made friends with a guy named Genesis Rhapsodos. He was interesting, always quoting old poems and plays and such, and was all about down-with-society and all that."

I smirked. "I think I know where this is going."

He gave me a knowing smile, and continued. "As you can guess, he had a fondness for... narcotics. And the more I hung out with him, the more I got into it, and... well, my grades suffered, not to mention my family life. I ended up dropping out of college and joining the army. Nothing really appealed to me in academia, and I was pretty good in a gym and with a gun, so I figured, why not?"

"And then...?" I prodded.

Laguna blinked. "That's it."

"No, it's not!" I argued. "What happened to Genesis? What's your family like? What was your major in college? Did you meet any girls along the way? How'd you get to where you are now? What -"

Laguna laughed and held up his hands. "Whoa now, one question at a time."

I giggled and blushed. "Sorry," I murmured.

Laguna shrugged off my apology. "Let's stop talking about me. What about you? What brings you to my fine kitchen this evening?"

I rolled my eyes, but smiled at his corniness. "Had another weird dream," I told him.

"Again?" I nodded. "Hm, two nights in a row. Was it the same dream?"

I thought for a moment. "No," I answered honestly. "It was different. Same people though, mostly."

Laguna leaned forward, subtly, seemingly interested in what I was saying. I had a strange feeling then, a very specific one. It wasn't pride, like before; it was a sort of special feeling. I felt special, like Laguna only had ears for me, no matter how much work he had to do. I had a sense that if there was even a war going on outside between Esthar and the moon, he'd still be sitting here, talking about dreams with me.

"Well," I started, "you were in it."

He smiled. "I was, was I?"

I kicked his shin gently under the table. "Don't get a swelled head," I warned him.

"Alright, alright; go on," he ushered me.

"Well, like I said, you were there," I said, running through the dreams events in my mind. I probably shouldn't mention me, I figured. That would be a really awkward conversation. "There was a woman in a red dress. Her name was Julia."

Laguna lost his smile and blinked, his face paling. "..Did you say Julia?" he asked quietly, and I had a feeling that even if I did answer him, he wouldn't have heard me; he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Does she mean something to you?" I asked. It was relatively normal for me to dream of Laguna - yes, I admit it, I have a massive crush on him - but to dream about someone else who was real? Someone I'd never met before? Coincidence was only an excuse to an extent.

Laguna was quiet for a moment, staring at the table in thought, then blinked, as if my question had just then reached his ears. "She was just someone I used to know," he explained briefly, his voice reaching past me, as if his words wanted to seek someone, someone special. A spark of jealousy flared in me, a feeling I'd felt before only in my dream. Is Julia more special to him than me? I thought, frowning.

"How strange that I'd dream of someone you know!" I said, forcing a smile, trying to break through his haze.

"Knew," he corrected.

I was taken aback for a moment. "...Knew?" I repeated slowly. But, that means...

"She died a while back. Car crash. No one could have stopped it." He added this last thought not so much as a detail but as an explanation, an excuse, a realization. Surely he didn't blame himself for her death?

I reached across the table and gently put my hand over his. This, out of everything, seemed to grab his attention (perhaps it was the all-too-familiar electric shock). What was terrible was, I had no idea what to say! The action was just a reflex, and now that I had his attention I couldn't just sit there and stare at him (no matter how much I might want to)!

So I said the first thing that came to my mind. "You had feelings for her, didn't you?" I asked quietly, my tone sympathetic.

He looked away from my eyes, and I felt his fingers move slightly under mine. "When I was younger," he confirmed. "But then I met-... Raine." He smiled a little, though something was off about the look in his eyes. "Everything changed from there."

"How so?" I asked.

Laguna looked up at me through his dark lashes, and I pushed down a blush. "I think it's time for you to get back to bed," he told me, and I pouted. "You've had a big night; you need your rest."

I sighed lightly and brought my hand back to my lap, feeling like something was torn from me as I did. I stood up, every move heavy; my body, my soul didn't want to leave this. Even if I was just talking to Laguna, it made my heart swell like nothing else, and it was all I could do not to break down in tears at the knowledge that I would spend even a second away from him.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to keep my tone chipper, "I guess." I started to leave, but Laguna's voice stopped me. I swear my feet stopped at the very moment he inhaled to speak the words:

"Do you want me to walk you to your room again?"

If hearts could smile... "Sure," I said, smiling brightly at him. "That'd be great." I didn't realize until later that I'd said the exact same thing the last time he'd asked, and that was probably why he chuckled.

He answered a few of my earlier questions on the way back to Demi's room. His old friend Genesis disappeared a few months ago, but he'd cut off contact with him long before then. Apparently he'd had a girlfriend at some point and she'd cheated on him with Genesis; since then, they haven't talked. There hadn't been another girl in his life after that ("I had some understandable trust issues," Laguna admitted with a smile) until Julia. He changed topics almost immediately after her name was brought up. Instead, he told me that his major in college had been undecided at best. He'd never really felt a passion for anything in school, but had a huge regret about not taking Journalism when he had the chance. He said that probably would have been his major if he hadn't joined the army so early on.

I listened to him like it was my job. Everything that came out of his mouth was fascinating to me - not to mention the mouth itself, which I'd just so recently had an intimate acquaintance with, sort of. I thought, he must think it's weird that I'm staring at him so intensely, so I tried to concentrate on the floor, the walls, anything but him. Of course it didn't work. His hand would brush mine occasionally, and there were so many times when I just wanted to stop him, step on his feet - for there would be no other way to be as tall as him - and kiss the life out of him. I had finally worked up the courage to do so when we reached the door to Demi's room.

"Well, here we are," Sir Obvious pointed out.

"Yep," I said shortly.

Silence.

I shuffled my feet, glancing away from his eyes. "Well, um..."

"Night?" Laguna offered.

I nodded, giving him a parting smile. "Night," I agreed.

I moved to the door, which he was partially blocking, expecting him to move out of my way; he didn't. I squeezed by him, trying not to touch him, because I knew that if I did, all my common sense would fly away and leave me a slave to impulse. I stepped into Demi's room, stopped, and turned around to see him still standing there, leaning against the door frame, his body slightly turned, as if he had half a mind to follow me inside.

"U-Uhm..." I tried, stepping forward. Laguna looked at me, simply looked at me, with an expression that I couldn't hope to read.

"Yeah?" His voice was quiet, low, and did he just lean forward? I couldn't tell in the darkness.

"I-I..." I want to kiss you. No, don't say that. That would be stupid. Just do it. No, wait. Um! "Never mind," I stammered, looking down and taking a step back. A scream of agony sounded in my mind, and I knew that it was the sound of any chance I had with him dying an awful death.

Laguna nodded and stood up straight. "See you in the morning," he said, and proceeded to walk down the hall, back in the direction he came.

I sighed, and my soul fled my body with that breath, following Laguna faithfully, going where I wished I could. I slowly made my way back into Demi's bed, trying not to wake her and succeeding. I figured I wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

I was right.


A/N: So sorry that took so long! I feel like nobody's really reading this story, though, so it's okay I guess. For those of you who are, thanks so much! I really appreciate it, and hope this story makes you happy =) Oh, and for those of you interested in my personal life, got back together with my ex Tanner. I hope it works out this time! Fourth time's the charm, right? Isn't that how it goes? (flout: not really.) lol See you guys later!