It's crappy. I don't care. This was a hard chapter for me because it deals with something that's never happened to me before, so I know little about it.

In any case, here's chapter 11, unbeta'd, so if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry. I know there are some in chapter ten.

Anyway, read, enjoy, review (thanks to my one reviewer! I'll PM you with a response maybe later. I'm tired right now), and I'll post another chapter soon. Maybe.

This chapter takes place right after Elephant ends. Well, about a month after. Maybe two.


Riku and I were going to get married.

Kairi had the wedding plans in the bag, even though she worked as a nurse at a hospital in Destiny Island.

Sora seemed lost and confused about the whole thing.

Roxas stayed lost in his own little world, like normal, and seemed to be desperate to get on his dad's good side again (though what he did to get off his dad's good side was something he and Axel wouldn't tell me).

And of course, Axel seemed determined to stop the wedding.

I was kind of on his side. Yes, I loved Riku – more than anything else in this world – but I really, really didn't want to have a huge ceremony like Kairi wanted. Riku said that he would be okay with whatever I wished for, and I didn't have the guts to tell Kairi that what she was planning was something that would embarrass the hell out of me. Basically I had to go through with this whole thing.

Which was not going to be fun in any way. I was just hoping it was going to be over with soon.

The only fun times I really had now when I was with Riku, and that didn't happen very often thanks to Mr. Strife who kept us at work almost all the time. Damn him. Of course, I still had nights with my fiance, which made everything a little bit better.

The night, the only time I hated, became my favorite part of the day. Well, normally.

This night, while I was trying to spend time with Riku, I got a really annoying phone call. I had to take it, even though Riku begged me not to. He even took the cell from me and shoved me down on the bed to kiss me... distract me. The only thing I could do to stop him was threaten to knee him in the one place guys are most sensitive.

That made him get off me and give me my phone back, glaring. All I did was smirk at him and answer.

"Ellie Elliot," I said, trying my best not to laugh at the disgruntled expression on Riku's face.

"Ellie? It's Aqua. I haven't talked to you in a while, huh?" I froze, immediately regretting my action. Sex with Riku sounded like a much better idea than talking to Aqua.

"Yeah, hey. It has been a while. I didn't think I would hear from you after last time," I said, closing my eyes. We hadn't exactly parted friends when she, Terra, and Ven had come to visit me. In fact, she declared that she never wanted to speak to me again, and that I was ridiculous for not trusting them.

Still oblivious as to why I didn't want anything to do with them.

"Well, I can't stay mad at you," she said, voice cheerful. "I just want you to know that I thought about what happened, and the way things turned out between us, and I wanted to apologize for being so harsh. I understand that you don't want to be around Terra anymore, and because Ven and I are still friends with him you don't want to really talk to us either."

Yeah. She had no idea what was going on.

"Everything okay?" Riku asked next to me, keeping his voice in a whisper. I shook my head, and Riku wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me against him protectively.

"So, you want to be friends again?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Of course! I never want to fight again. In fact, as a kinda, peace offering, I'd like to invite you to dinner on Saturday. You, me, Ven, and Terra."

"Aqua..."

"I know, I know. You don't want to be near Terra, but please, just go along with this one, okay? He really wants to see you. Apologize for what he did, to your face."

"I don't think I can do this. I'm sorry. I'll have dinner with just you. Even you and Ven, but not Terra." The moment I said my ex-boyfriend's name, Riku's grip tightened, and he leaned his head against my shoulder comfortingly. I kissed the top of his head as Aqua answered me.

"Please? Just give him a chance. He's... He has this obsession with you, Ellie, and his psychiatrist thinks it would be good for you to come and talk to him, so-"

"So you just want me to come so I can help Terra? Figures," I muttered.

"What? No! I want to be friends with you again! Okay? I was just hoping that maybe you could make peace with Terra, so that we can all be friends again without any kind of issue." She sounded desperate. Pleading with me.

"Why?"

"Ellie, we were friends for four years. I don't want that to just go away."

"Why would Terra be obsessed with me? Huh? He tried to kill me." There were tears in my eyes, despite the fact that I was trying to hold them in. When she came to visit me that time when Axel was in the hospital, it was to beg me to move back with them and help take care of Terra. That's why he had been there as well. To help her talk to me about it it.

When I started crying before, when talking to Riku, it was mostly because I was processing what Aqua had said to me.

"Ellie, I think you should hang up the phone now," Riku said, grabbing my wrist, but I pushed him away. I wanted to hear what Aqua had to say.

"I don't know exactly. His psychiatrist says it's most likely because you were the center of his affection when he broke down, his mind is unable to forget those feelings." There was something to her voice. Something sad... something longing. "Please, Ellie."

"Where and what time?" I had to give in. There was something more to those three... to Ven, Aqua, and Terra I clearly didn't know about. Something that I couldn't just leave alone. Aqua seemed different every time I talked to her. More stressed. More upset. More depressed. I couldn't just let her live like that. The way she pleaded with me. It was almost as if she wanted me to save her from whatever was going on.

"You remember my address, right? Well, there, at six. Can you do that?" I told her that I could, despite Riku's protest. Then I hung up the phone, feeling both determined, and scared.

"Ellie? What the hell? You're going to see her? Them? After what they've done to you?" He grabbed the phone from my hand and tossed it on the bed before he pushed me down and pulled up my shirt. "They hurt you," he muttered, fingers trailing one of my remaining scars. I looked away from him, eyes closing.

He was right.

But he was also wrong.

"I have to." He released my shirt before cupping my face, turning my head to face him. "I have to help her."

"No you don't," he told me. "You don't have to do anything for them. Okay?"

I really wished he had been right. "Yes I do." My answer clearly didn't make him happy, but he kissed me, and for the rest of the evening, didn't let me talk.


He'd been against me going to dinner with them the entire time. For the rest of the week, Riku tried to convince me that this wasn't going to end well, but I just ignored him. Both Axel and Roxas noticed the tension, and both tried to talk to me about it. They probably tried to talk to Riku too, but there was no way that would go over well. Axel I told to fuck off. Roxas I told to go fuck Axel.

Neither of them had been happy with me.

But I didn't care. The two of them could just leave me alone. That would be the best thing. Leave me alone, and allow me to go have dinner with my old friends.

Which is why I was now standing, alone, on Aqua's front porch about to knock on her door. I took a deep breath, remembering Riku's words before I left the apartment.

He'd pulled me into a hug, and whispered, "If anything, and I mean anything happens, you tell me, and I'll fucking kill them."

It was nice to know that there was someone out there who actually cared about me. Who loved me enough to want to protect me. Even if he was being completely irrational. I was just going to have dinner with three people I'd been friends with in high school. Nothing else.

So I knocked on the door, taking a deep breath. Riku was wrong. This was not going to go wrong.

And yet it did, the moment the door opened because Terra stood there smiling.

"Hey Ellie," he said, reaching and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I flinched, but allowed him to pull me inside. "I heard you got engaged." That was definitely not the first conversation I wanted to have with Terra. I just nodded. "To who?"

I glanced over at him, feeling completely uncomfortable.

"The man you met a year ago. Riku," I replied. I pulled away from him and looked around. "Where are Aqua and Ven? There's supposed to be here."

"But they're not," was all Terra said. He grabbed my shoulders again and steered me into the kitchen, where a table set for two sat. I felt my heart sink. Aqua had lied to me. She'd said that it would be the four of us. She assured me that she and Ven would be here as well, and that they wouldn't leave me alone with Terra. I didn't understand why.

"Look, I don't think I should stay, alright?" I tried to back away again. But Terra was persistent. As always. "Please, I want to go home now. This was a mistake, and-"

"I won't hurt you," he said quietly. Almost too quietly. It made me shudder. "I hurt you before, but I won't again, I promise." His voice was so fucking quiet. It wasn't natural. "Now please? Won't you eat dinner with me tonight?"

I wanted to say no. I really wanted to say no.

"Okay."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a grin spread across Terra's face, and he led me to one of the chairs. I sad down silently. It was the only thing I could do.

Dinner wasn't that bad, I guess. Terra had apparently learned to cook in the past few years. I guess being under house arrest gives a person a lot of time to do things that they originally found ridiculous and boring. The meal wasn't that bad, surprisingly. But I could barely taste it anyway. I couldn't taste anything during the meal. I was too nervous. I had enough trouble getting the food down my throat anyway.

But we had a few nice conversations. Terra didn't seem to be interested in what my life was like. He kept starting random conversations about what was going on with other people that I only knew about because they all seemed to be connected to Mr. Strife in some way. Of course, most famous people were connected to Mr. Strife in some way, and I knew all of them.

I guess there's one good thing about being the personal lawyer for the richest guy in the world.

Then the conversation took a turn for the worst.

"When did you get engaged?" I didn't want him to bring that subject up again. I'd even taken my engagement ring off before I left the house so none of them talked about it. I didn't even know how he'd figured it out.

"Christmas. Why? How did you know?"

"Two months ago? Huh."

"How did you know?" I asked again, my tone more serious this time.

Terra grinned. "Ven was bored and did a search on you. Found out that you applied for a marriage license. Only reason to do that is if you're going to get married, which means you're engaged." Ven had always been notorious for hacking into things that he should stay out of. I felt the need to smack him.

"Oh. Well, it's not that important, so-"

"Why are you getting married?"

I froze. He sounded so pathetic. He was staring at me intensely, like he had the night of the dance when he first kissed me. I felt the blood drain from my face, and I lay my fork on the table so that I didn't drop it.

"Because I love Riku," I stuttered. "And he loves me." Terra didn't seem happy with my answer. He looked away from me, eyes narrowed, and practically threw his fork and knife onto his plate. I flinched when he did this, and tensed, in case I needed to run away.

Terra stood up suddenly and started over towards me, so I instinctively jumped up and backed away. "You guys love each other, huh? And how do you know that? You guys haven't known each other for very long."

"We've been dating for six years. That's a long time." I backed away, making sure that I was heading toward the door.

"So, he's "loved' you for six years, huh?" Terra growled. "Only six years. And you're gonna marry him." I did not like where this was going. Especially not when he jumped forward suddenly and grabbed me. I didn't have time to move away. "But I've loved you for a lot longer than that, and you do everything in your power to avoid me."

"Riku didn't try to kill me."

"I didn't either."

I couldn't help myself.

I slapped him.

He couldn't be serious. He didn't just tell me that he didn't try and kill me. There was no way he was that stupid.

But I shouldn't have hit him, because it only served to anger him more. Before I knew what was going on, he reached forward and grabbed me around the waist, picked me up, and threw me over his shoulder. I struggled to get down, but it was no use. I should have known that. Even when I was athletic, Terra had always been stronger than I. Always. Which was how he had been able to hurt me so badly.

Next thing I know, I was tossed onto a bed, and Terra climbed on top of me.

I didn't know what was going on.

But I was so damn terrified.

"I didn't try and kill you, Ellie. I was just trying to get you to a better place." His hands wrapped around my wrists and he shoved them next to my head, trapping me against the bed. "They told me that you weren't happy in this world, and that if I loved you, I would do the right thing and send you to where your parents were. I didn't want to do it, but they made me. They told me I had to." That's when he kissed me. I couldn't move. I could just sit there as his mouth pressed against mine and wait for it to be over with.

"I wanted you to be happy. I loved you so much. I always have. When the doctors put me on the medicines, and the voices went away, I realized just how much I hurt you, and because I hurt you, you didn't want to be around me." I couldn't look at him. I could only blink back tears. "And that's what I figured out that you loved me. You still love me, even now, but you won't admit it to yourself or anyone because you were scared."

"No," I whispered, trying to get away from him. Everything he was saying was a delusional lie. He didn't know what he was talking about at all.

"I'll prove it to you. I'll prove that you love me. You don't love that Riku guy. He's not good enough for you." I wanted to scream at him that Riku was good enough for me. Better. He was perfect, and the one I loved, and the one I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. But I was too scared.

Too terrified by what was going on to say anything more.

He seemed to be so happy as he stripped me from my dress, even when he saw the scars he'd given me. I didn't fight him. I couldn't. My body wouldn't respond. I just sat there, completely limp, tears streaming down my face, and I wondered how Aqua could do this to me.

She'd set me up. She was the one who invited me to dinner, and then left me alone with Terra. It was possible that Ven didn't even know about the whole thing, but if he did, then this was his fault too. They both knew that Terra was unstable. They lived with him. And Aqua had even told me earlier that week about Terra's messed up obsession with me.

Was this some kind of punishment?

Eventually the tears stopped coming, but I couldn't do anything to stop him. The only thing I was able to do, was close my eyes and imagine I was with Riku. Imagine that this wasn't really happening.

I was somewhere else.

And then it was over. I shuddered slightly as Terra's hands brushed against my face, and I dared look at him.

"See, I told you you loved me," he said, smiling. Couldn't he see that I was crying? That my face was blank? That I wasn't responding to anything he was doing or saying? "Just like I love you." He leaned down and kissed my tear stained face.

Finally, my body began to work again. I slowly sat up and pushed him away from me, saying, "I have to go." Terra grinned, like he was completely certain of something. He found my clothes and gave them to me, allowing me space to get dressed. I don't really know how I managed to keep my hands from shaking long enough to slip on my clothing, but somehow I did it.

When I was done, Terra walked me to the door, still smiling. He handed me my purse, which had my keys and cell phone in it, before saying good bye.

And he kissed me again. Gently, this time.

"I'll see you soon," he muttered against my lips. I didn't have a response for him. I just walked out the door and didn't look back.

The drive home... I don't remember it. I remember flashing lights, and traffic, but that's about it. I was abnormally calm. I was so fucking calm. There were no thoughts in my head. My body was moving on it's own – running on autopilot.

And then I got home.

That was when what happened really dawned on me. Emotions rushed through my body so quickly that I couldn't control the violent shudder that ran through every limb. The keys in my hands... the ones I had been about to use to get inside dropped from my hands and landed on the ground below me. I sank to my knees, and tried to grab them, but I couldn't. My hands were shaking to much. Every inch of my skin felt like there was something crawling on it.

The door opened suddenly, flooding me with light from inside, and I heard Riku's voice calling my name.

"Ellie? What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?"

At the sound of his concerned voice, my eyes widened. I could have stopped it. I should have been able to stop him from doing that to me. I felt so dirty inside. So disgusting. Just hearing how much Riku was worried about me made my stomach turn with hatred for myself. This was all my fault.

I was so filthy.

"I'm sorry...," I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself. I should have listened to him. I shouldn't have gone there.

"Ellie, look at me," Riku commanded, and I had to listen. I had to look up at him. All I could see were accusing eyes. They knew what happened. They hated me for it. They didn't want me to be there. So when his hand reached out to touch me, I flinched away.

At first there was nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing. I knew he hated me. He probably never wanted to see me again. It would be appropriate, of course. I'd had sex with another guy. While engaged to Riku. It's just not right, and I wouldn't blame or hate him if he called off the wedding and told me never to come near him again.

That would be a good punishment for me.

But suddenly he was picking me up. I gasped and immediately tried to push him away, just as he held me close to him, and whispered to me; "I'm not going to hurt you."

Just like what Terra said. Only, with Riku, I felt like I could believe it. I knew that he wasn't lying to me. He wasn't going to do anything to me that I didn't want. He would listen to me.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" He asked me. There was no way I would be able to say it. Not to him.

So instead, I just let him carry me inside.


I remember falling asleep to Riku's comforting voice. That was pretty much all I remembered after he took me inside. I think I heard him call someone after he placed me on our bed, but that memory was too fuzzy for me to make out who he was talking to. Axel maybe? But I didn't know why he would call him. The two of them would probably forever hate each other.

When I finally woke up, eyes fluttering open, he was sitting next to me, not looking in my direction. Surprisingly, an unlit cigarette hung in his mouth.

"I thought you gave up smoking," I managed to say, the events of the previous night still unclear. There was a pounding in my head, and a pain in the lower half of my body, which was keeping me from really thinking straight.

It'd been years since the last time I'd seen Riku smoke. I didn't even know he still owned anything related to it. Even back when he did, it was only when something really stressed him out, or pissed him off. Which rarely happened. Something about last night... maybe that's what pissed him off.

If only I could remember what it was.

After a minute he turned to look at me, then pulled that stupid thing out of his mouth and held it out in front of him, showing the end to me. "It's not lit, is it?" When he said that, I figured something like this would just be a habit for him. I think one time he told me the motion of having a cigarette in his hands helped calm him down some times.

"No, I guess it's not," I said before pausing. "Riku... I... I don't... I don't remember. What happened last night?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," he growled. I hadn't heard him this mad in a long time. "You came home late, you were shaking like mad, you flinched away from me, and then you just shut down and fell asleep. So I kind of want to know: what the fuck did Terra do to you?"

Terra?

That's when everything came crashing down on me. Every moment of that night with Terra; every inch of my body that he touched, seemed to attack me. I immediately back away from Riku, feeling completely embarrassed, and I ended up falling out of bed.

"Ellie?" Riku seemed surprised by my actions, and he leaned over to my side of the bed, looking confused.
"I'm sorry," I gasped, feeling the disgust come back. I'd really let him comfort me last night after what I did. It was sick. "I'm so sorry." Riku slid off the bed and walked over to me. I couldn't look into his eyes as he bent down to my level. It was too much.

"Why do you keep apologizing to me. You were saying "sorry,' in your sleep too. What happened?" he asked, watching me intensely. But he didn't touch me. Which was weird for him.

"I...," I stuttered, not sure what to say. I couldn't tell him. It would be best if I made something up. That way he wouldn't be hurt. Right? "I don't..."

"Did he hurt you?" I couldn't answer no, and I couldn't answer yes. "He hurt you? That mother fucker! What did he do? Do you need to go to the hospital? Where are you hurt?" This time Riku did touch me. He gripped my arm and lifted me off the ground, then held me an arm's length away. I was crying again. "Tell me! I need to know where he hurt you. Just tell me what happened so I know what I need to do. Did he draw blood?"

"No." I finally found my voice somewhere, but it didn't sound like me. It sounded like some pathetic, scared little girl. That couldn't be me, right? "He didn't... He just..."

"I won't hate you," he said suddenly. I looked into his eyes. "I don't care what happened. I won't hate you, okay?" He sounded scared.

"I should have been able to stop him," I said quietly after he'd pulled me into a hug. "I should have fought harder, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't let me. I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

What could I do? He wouldn't let me go. There was no excuse I could make without other proof; not after the way I'd acted last night. Too much had already been spilled by my actions for Riku to just believe anything.

"You promised me that you would tell me everything. Please don't lie to me."

So I told him. I started with how it was just Terra there, and continued on to how they knew I was engaged, that we ate dinner, then Terra began acting strange when he brought Riku up, and finally, how he was convinced that I loved him still, and there was only one way to prove it to me. When I got to that part, Riku's arms tightened around my body, and he cursed under his breath.

Then, when my story was done, he didn't say anything for a minute. He just held me there like it was the most normal thing in the world to do. I regretted telling him as soon as I was done, because now he would hate me. He said he wouldn't, but he would. I knew it.

"I'm sorry," I muttered again before pushing away. "I should have been able to stop him."

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this," Riku snapped, glaring. "It's not your fault. Got it? You went there thinking that you would be having dinner with your three friends from high school, and ended up being..." He trailed off, clearly not wanting to say that word. "All of this is their fault. And trust me; they're not going to get away with this."

"But it is my fault. I'm the one who went there, and the one who didn't stop him, and the one who-" He shut me up with a kiss. At first I struggled to get away from him, a bubble of fear rising in the pit of my stomach, but after a moment, I realized that this was a different kiss than Terra's. It wasn't forceful. It wasn't trying to convince me of anything. It was just my fiance trying to calm me down.

My fiance.

Who didn't hate me.

I dissolved into tears and kissed him back.


"Ellie?" He was holding me close to him, arms wrapped protectively around my waist.

"Yeah?"

"Feel any better?"

"Yeah." And I did. It was late Sunday evening, and the two of us had done nothing all day. We'd just sat in bed, sometimes talking, sometimes kissing, sometimes just sitting there in silence. There was still this feeling I couldn't shake off; one that made me want to throw up. Even though Riku had almost completely convinced me that this wasn't my fault, I couldn't help but think it might be. I should have left as soon as Terra told me Ven and Aqua weren't there.

No, I shouldn't have gone.

Riku opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closed it again quickly. I glanced up at him, confused. It wasn't like him to not speak his mind.

"You okay?" I asked, still half sure that he was going to get up and leave any second now.

He smiled down at me and nodded. "Yeah. I was just toying with an idea. But I don't know if you'll go for it."

"What is it?"

"Well..." He sighed. "I really want to marry you. Right now. I don't want to wait. I want you to be completely mine so that no other guy will touch you again." And he thought that I wouldn't go for that? Immediately all thoughts of him leaving me vanished and I tackled him, pushing him on the bed.

After a moment of kissing him, I pulled away and whispered, "I think that's the best idea you've ever had."

"Kairi's going to be pissed at us."

"Kairi can bite me."

He laughed and pulled my head down to kiss me again. "Tomorrow then?"

"Do I really have to wait that long?"

"Unfortunately." We both laughed. It felt good to laugh. Like there was nothing wrong. Like I hadn't just been raped by my psychotic ex. Like we weren't going to be killed by Kairi when she found out that her wedding plans were now pointless. Like I didn't have to go and confront my old friends.

I liked that feeling.


No one knew yet. Just Riku and I did. And I kind of liked it like that. No one could tell me we'd made a mistake, and that it would be better to have an actual ceremony for the two of us getting married. I would just call them idiots, but it would still be annoying.

Axel would probably hate Riku even more now, which was unfortunate, because the two of them could probably be really good friends if they stopped being stupid. Roxas wouldn't have a reaction. Kairi would kill me. Sora would probably just tell Riku to watch out for Kairi and that would be the end of it.

And then there were the three people I needed to talk to. I wondered how they would react when they found out I was married.

"W-What are you doing here?" Aqua asked when she opened the door. I didn't answer. "You should have called me before you came. I would have-"

"I haven't come to stay," I snapped, interrupting her. "I came here to tell you something." I paused as her face fell a little bit. Her eyes traveled to my left hand. "Never, and I mean never, try to talk to me again." Without another word, I turned heel and walked away from her, heading towards Riku, who was leaning against his car.

I was almost to him when I heard Terra call out my name. "Ellie! Wait a minute, where are you going?" I flinched at the sound of his voice, and turned around to face him, but all I saw was Riku's back. He'd moved so fast that I didn't even notice him move away from the car. Next thing I know, Terra's falling onto his back, Aqua's gasping, and Riku's arms are wrapped around me.

"Next time you touch my wife," he spat, "you're going to get more than just a punch in the face." Rubbing his cheek, Terra looked at me with wide, confused eyes.

"Wife?" he muttered. "Ellie, what's he talking about? He's just being delusional, right?"

"You're the one who's delusional," Riku said before I could say anything. "Thinking that Ellie loves you... it's ridiculous. Next time, before you go and rape someone, maybe listen to what they're saying."

I heard Aqua gasp again, and I sneaked a look at her. She was staring, horrified, at Terra, then glanced up at me. There was an apologetic look on her face. It made me feel sick.

"I didn't rape her! She-"

"Don't assume what I want, Terra," I whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

No one said anything as Riku led me back to the car, glaring behind him. These three people were ridiculous. I couldn't understand how I could have become friends with them. Then again, if I'd known that Terra would have a psychotic break, I wouldn't have talked to them that much. I probably would have just gone through high school alone.

Then again, I probably wouldn't have started going out with Riku. He wouldn't have seen the pain in me, and wanted to help me.

I guess that I have some things to be thankful for.

As I climbed into the car, I saw Ven run up to the scene, looking panicked. I felt a little bad that I didn't want to talk to him either. He was probably the only one of the three who had nothing to do with anything. Of course, he was also the naïve one who thought that everything could just go back to the way they were.

I wanted nothing to do with any of them anymore.

"Hey Ellie?" Riku asked as we drove away. "Think we should go tell Axel now?" At his words, all my anxiety vanished, and I laughed.

"Probably. You know he's going to kill you, right?"

"Unfortunately. He's worse than your dad, I swear." Riku muttered something else under his breath, and I just shook my head. My father just congratulated the two of us and went on with his life, saying he couldn't wait for the wedding. Axel, on the other hand...

"Ellie," Riku said again. I turned to him, surprised when he pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"Yeah?"

As soon as this word left my mouth he leaned over and kissed me, then whispered, "I love you."

A chill of pleasure ran through my body at his words, and I kissed him back.

"I love you too."


Okay, since none of these characters are mentioned really again, I'll explain what happened here, and what's been going on with Terra, Aqua, and Ven.

Terra's been obsessed with Ellie for the reasons mentioned in the story, but he's been taking his frustrations out on Aqua both with slight physical and sexual abuse. Aqua doesn't know what to do, and she's been going to Ven for help and comfort, and the two of them have a sexual relationship. Aqua, getting sick of it, decides to try and get Ellie back in their lives. On the day Ellie's supposed to have dinner with them, Aqua goes to Ven's apartment to get him, but he decides they shouldn't go and won't let her leave. He thinks Ellie and Terra will work something out on their own.

He calls Terra and tells him that the two of them won't be at dinner, and just to set the table for two. When Aqua finally does get home, Terra is extremely happy, leaves her alone, and basically tells her Ellie's not going to get married.

So, yeah. That's their story.

After this, Ellie has a pregnancy scare and thinks Terra got her pregnant, but turns out her period's just late. That's pretty much the end of Terra because he dies in an accident a few years after Phoe is born. Ven, on the other hand, has more dealings with the family because of something that I won't say so I don't give anything away :P

Yes, I know. A lot of things happen to Ellie. But after she gets to come back and live with Riku, pretty much nothing happens to them. Something happens to Phoe and Seitaro, but that'll be mentioned later.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If I hadn't just taken my sleeping medicine, I'd probably say more. But oh well.

Don't forget to review!

~Sunechirei