Arggg. Finally the sweet sweet freedom of summer. Finals, annoying professors, and friends graduations are all over and done with. Now I'm back to my first love……no not big game hunting in Siberia…WRITING dam it. I hope you guys don't think I bailed on the story. Never! I not a quitter…maybe that's why I awoke this morning with a monster hangover. Oh well forget about that. This is just a mini update teaser with the sole intention of telling you the updates will be returning promptly. Thank you everyone for reading thus far. You make me so happy I can cry. Which I wont because I haven't cried since my car broke down on Interstate 90. From that day forward, I vowed to never cry again. (Starts to cry) Crap! Oh well. On with the show. That as they say is that.

Disclaimer Blah Blah Blah, up yours lawyers. You'll never find me because my internet connection is routed through Santa's workshop.

Chapter 10

"I can't believe I'm late." No matter how fast Sora tried to run it just didn't feel like she was moving. The hospital was quiet and empty and the only thing the brunette could hear was her own breathing. She remembered what her destination looked like and she even remembered how to get there, but everywhere she turned the hallways changed. "This can't be happening."

Sora stopped her futile trek to catch her breath when she realized that she didn't even feel winded. She might not have felt any exertion, but what she did have an abundance of was despair. "I'm lost."

Just when her hopes began dwindling, Sora looked up and gasped in surprise. Layla's room was right in front of her. "I finally made it."

The girl didn't waste anytime as she swung the door open and called out the blonde's name. "Layla?"

The room wasn't occupied by the person she was searching for. Rather it was full of doctors mingling about the room in their white coats, mumbling to themselves. "Where is Layla?" called out Sora to the almost zombie like doctors. They went about their mindless murmurings and not one of them seemed to notice the brunette. "Why won't you answer me? Where's Layla and what happened?"

"Something is wrong." Sora's earlier despair had returned ten fold. She ran up to the closest doctor and tried to get his attention by shaking him but he stared off into space with blank eyes. The brunette sighed in frustration and attempted to get another doctor's attention but she didn't have anymore luck than the last one.

"What's going on!" screamed out Sora. Just then a woman in a white coat walked by and finally Sora saw a familiar face. "Dr. Everett it's me Sora."

The brunette tried to approach her but the other doctors formed a human wall around her. "What is this, get out of my way." demanded the now frustrated girl. The blank faces didn't flinch nor did they move.

Sora tried to nudge her way through but their arms came up and pushed her back. She didn't take their obstruction kindly and the brunette was starting to get angry. "I've had enough of this."

Sora backed up and did a running charge. At the last second when the arms came up to intercept her, she flipped high in the air and landed on the other side. Sora turned around as fast as she could and prepared to defend herself if need be, but the room that was once filled with zombie like doctors…was empty. "What's going on here?"

Sora remembered Dr. Everett quickly turned back around and sighed in relief. The doctor was still there. "What happened? Where is Layla?"

The surgeon had her back to the brunette and Sora didn't know if the other woman had heard her. "Where is Layla?" demanded Sora as she grabbed Dr. Everett's shoulder and turned the woman around to face her. The doctor's face was streaked with tears and Sora took a step back in surprise. "Oh no."

Fear overtook the brunette as her mind filled with worse case scenarios. She did her best to shake off the unpleasant thoughts. Sora had to know for sure before she started jumping to conclusions. "Tell me what happened."

Finally Miranda's eyes showed some recognition. "Sora?" whispered the doctor.

"That's right. It's me Sora."

"Sora I…"

The brunette's heart beat was pounding in her chest. "What is it?"

"I'm so sorry."

"No it can't be." Those were words Sora never wanted to hear from a doctor. She closed her eyes and it felt like there was a weight on her chest. "Please just focus, Layla can't be…"

The brunette's despair brought her to her knees. She had tears that wanted to fall but her eyes were as dry as a desert.

"I refuse to believe this." whispered the Kaleido star as she got a hold of her emotions and pushed herself off the floor, or what she thought was a floor. "Grass?"

The girl took in her surroundings. She was no longer standing in the hospital room, rather she was now in the middle of the Cape Mary city park. "How did I get here?"

It was getting dark and she noticed it was the time of the day when the sun surrendered to the moon. "This can't be real."

Her steps were tentative at first. She was disoriented even though she must have visited this park nearly a dozen times. The chill in the air made her hug her arms to her chest. Sora decided it was for the best that she find a payphone as soon as possible. Forcing herself to walk was a challenge at this point. The worry over her love's fate was draining her strength. A sting of cold air assaulted the left side of her face and she turned to avoid the icy wind. That was when Sora caught sight of a golden haired woman, sitting with her back towards the brunette, on a distant bench.

The small flicker of hope in Sora's heart told her it was Layla, but upon closer inspection the woman had much longer hair than the blonde's current length. However that didn't stop Sora from approaching the only other person in the darkening park. When she finally got to the bench, the brunette walked around to see who it was and that's when she saw the greatest sight for her in all the world. "Layla?"

A pair of blue eyes fixed upon the surprised girl. "Late as always Sora."

"It really is her." The Kaleido star nearly fainted with relief. "Layla." cried out Sora as she fell onto the bench and hugged Layla with all of her strength. She thought having Layla in her arms would have brought her some comfort but something was wrong. For one thing the blonde didn't hug her back.

"Layla?" questioned Sora as she pulled back from the other girl. The former Kaleido star seemed indifferent to Sora's presence. It was much like the demeanor of the girl who used to hold Sora in contempt, and it was nothing like the warm and loving Layla from the night before. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk Sora." answered the blonde without emotion.

The hope upon seeing Layla was slowly beginning to fade. "W...w..what is it?"

"The surgery didn't end like we hoped."

The Kaleido star gasped in shock. Layla was wearing a spaghetti strap dress this whole time and Sora could see that her shoulder was perfectly fine. However it appeared to be horribly scarred now. "That wasn't there before."

"I think I made a mistake about the surgery." continued the blonde.

"I'm so sorry Layla." Sora was too stunned to answer the other woman.

"I also think I made a mistake about you."

The brunette finally found her voice. "What are you saying?"

Layla didn't answer right away.

The weight on Sora's chest returned. "It's so heavy."

"I'm sorry that I ever met you."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sora's eyes snapped wide open. For the briefest of moments she didn't know where she was. Gone was the dark forest only to be replaced by a sun lit room. The brunette attempted to control her breathing as she scanned her environment. To her relief, she noticed she was still in the hotel suite.

"Thank god it was just a dream." Dream or not, it was very unsettling. Sora counted herself lucky that with each passing minute her dream became more and more vague. "If it was only a dream, why does my chest still feel so heavy?"

That was when she heard the sound of light snoring. "That better not be what I think it is."

To confirm her fears, Sora slowly lifted her head and peered down at the unconscious form of her guiding spirit. It wasn't rare for her to wake up with Fool sleeping on top of her, but the little man was currently sleeping quite soundly between her breasts. Words failed to describe just how rude this awaking was. The brunette's eyes twitched as her temper began to hit critical mass. "Why you little."

Sensing someone was watching him, Fool slowly regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes he caught sight of the fully awake Sora. "Do you have a good sleep? I know I did."

To be continued...dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn ------(Mystery movie to be continue theme)