Sora felt like all the air was being drained out of her lungs way too quickly. She braced herself on the bed, grabbing at the quilt with one hand and the headboard-with the other. However, that didn't stop her head for spinning and she had to lie back for a second to regain her senses. When she stood up to look at the screen to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating, there were colorful spots dancing in front of her eyes, and her heart was beating in what felt like a hundred miles per second.

But it was still there-in bright and impossible color. Allegro was there, and he was calling her.

A: Are you there?

SN: You know I am!

Sora leaned over the edge of the bed to look at Leon. Her partner seemed preoccupied cutting vegetables, when the computer made a loud cling and announced the arrival of a new message. She quickly turned the volume off and sat back on the bed, angling herself so that if he walked into the room, he wouldn't see the screen. For some reason, having him learn of her chat conversations felt a little scary.

A: I am but a musician, Sora. Don't turn me into a gypsy yet.

SN: That's not what I meant.

A: Is it?

A: Are you alright? I heard of the accident.

Her heart skipped a beat. Had he come to visit her? How did he learn of it? Who told him? She quickly typed all those questions down and the time that took him to reply felt like a century.

A: That is irrelevant. Everyone spoke of it.

SN: That's not fair! Somebody must've told you.

A: Even if you knew, it wouldn't help you discover my true identity.

She began to feel irritation bubble up within her. Why did he have to continue this? He knew everything that happened to her, yet he remained perfectly anonymous. Her conversation with Kate replayed in her mind and she felt painfully stupid for acting so much as a…hormonal teenager, getting all excited because somebody contacted her on the net.

SN: Don't you think this is a little unfair? I mean you know everything about me and yet I don't know anything about you!

A: I believe we already discussed that. You cannot know everyone on this planet, Sora.

SN: Don't I deserve to know at least those to whom I speak? I don't even know you.

A: To me, music makes the world around me. I am nothing but my music. You don't need to know more.

SN: How can you know what I need? How can I possibly trust you when all you do is speak in riddles?

A: You put too much worth into words…into knowledge. Sometimes, into technique.

SN: Technique is what my life relies on.

A: And to me music is what my life relies on. You should, for once, stop thinking and just feel.

Feel? Stop thinking and feel? That was probably the one thing Sora couldn't allow herself to do. Of course, she poured everything into her performance and blinded the audience with her feelings, but that was only once she had learned her routine and perfected her act until she could sleep her way though it and not fall down. To be wholly and utterly impulsive? Impossible.

SN: To do that, I need to trust my partner, the lest.

Allegro was silent. She gave him a full five minutes to reply, and yet he didn't say anything. Sora squeezed her hands to stop them from quivering. From what? Anger? Disappointment? Shame? Slowly, she wrote, feeling the bitterness leek through her attempts to remain composed.

SN: I'm sorry, but I cannot trust you.

A: Because you don't know me?

SN: Can I let myself go with someone I don't know? How can I be sure that you wouldn't let me fall?

A: What does your heart tell you?

Again with the heart. She couldn't believe that this guy was trying so hard to deter her from her goal, to throw her off track…Why was it so important to him that she blindly trusted him?

SN: My heart doesn't know you.

SN: I don't know your language, Allegro. If I can't speak it, how am I supposed to reach YOUR heart?

SN: Why can't you just trust me?

Now she had him cornered. He would have to tell her something, or they would have to stop talking. And he didn't want that to happen…right? She knew she didn't.

A: I'm sorry. I'm afraid that this is goodbye then.

Why? Don't do this! She wanted to scream, but she remained resolute. She wouldn't tolerate this. He was a stranger, nothing more. She had to stay firm. And yet, why did the next four words cut her with their bold and simple statement of truth?

Allegro has logged off.

Kalos was pacing again, but thankfully they didn't expect Edward to come back…for the next few days or so. Sarah laid back in the couch, staring at him with equal parts of confusion and worry. It had been a while since she last saw him this agitated, and when he was agitated, he usually took rash decisions that he often regretted.

"You need to relax." She told him, slowly, although she was feeling much less sure of herself than before

"Do you think I can? I mean, don't I have the right to be mad?" He threw his hands in the air "Edward comes here with such a suggestion, I think I deserve to be furious!"

"He thinks it's for the best."

"He always does. That's the problem. He always offers suggestions that are good for the stage, always has sufficient ideas and is capable to back them up with facts…it's just that every time someone of my actors goes off to New York to study in his school, he doesn't want to come back!"

"But it's not Edward's fault." Sarah said, getting on her feet and putting her arm on his shoulder "It was for the best, Kalos. He offered them an opportunity to improve, and you gave them a thumbs up on it because it was good for their career. The decision to stay was theirs alone."

"But Edward was the one who showed them the life in New York that tempted them to stay. I couldn't offer them this lifestyle!"

"Not everyone that went there has remained. Layla came back, didn't she? And Yuri too."

"Yuri had a reason. And Layla…"

"She loves the stage, Kalos. Just like Sora does…"

"If this is some clever way for you to stop me from NOT telling Sora and Leon of Edward's ridiculous proposal?" He asked, quirking his eyebrow, then adding jokingly "Have you passed on the side of evil, Sarah?"

"Goodness, no! But don't you think that Sora is old enough to make her own decisions?"

"But if both she and Leon leave, what will happen?" he sighed "We're in the middle of preparing a production, and…"

"They don't need to leave immediately. We can send them in August, during the break, and even if they decide to stay a little longer, we'd have time to prepare something with the freshmen."

"Don't you see that this is all a part of a plot! He's in cahoots with Andy, trying to push me into selling the stage and sending you straight into the music industry!"

"You HAVE to stop to be jealous of Andy." Sarah said, leaning in to peck him on the lips "Because your paranoia is getting ridiculous. Even if Andy may come up with such an underhanded plan, Edward is too good to go along. They both know I'm not a thing, or a child, for them to decide for myself."

"But it's not just about money and glamour. Andy offers you a path to your dream. You can do better than…" Kalos waved his hand around, gesturing towards the messy bills, overflowing garbage bag and dirty walls. "This."

"Haven't I already made it clear that I want to be here, with you?" She sighed with exasperation as she sat him on the couch and climbed into his lap. As she only got an distrusting grunt, she decided to elaborate…once more "Look at it in this way. When the group first broke up, Andy couldn't offer me any more than you could. I chose to follow you, despite your grumpy attitude, because I love you, and I saw Kaleido Stage grow in front of me. There isn't a force in this world to tear me away from it now."

Kalos still looked displeased, but his hands encircled her gently and steadied her. "But I can't offer you what you deserve."

"And what exactly do you think I deserve?" she asked coyly, snuggling into his embrace

"I want to lay the world at your feet." He replied evenly "But I suppose that it's too cliché, no? Too many people have done that already, and there is no world left for me to give you."

Sarah fought back a giggle. That man was sometimes so pedantic, he sounded funny when he was trying to be romantic.

Gods, didn't she love this man!

"That's definitely a disadvantage. However…" her smile grew into a full-fledged grin "There are other ways you can make up for that."

"Hmm…" she twisted skillfully into his arms so that she could face him and straddled his hips "Like?"

"Remember when we started off the group…"

"Yes…" he drawled, too well aware of her antics to be distracted by the heat that shot through both their bodies….much.

"And how after the show you used to teach me some magic…" she continued, leaning in to breathe a feathery kiss on his ear "And we always ended up doing something else."

"Yes…" his hands were rubbing small circles around her back "However, as I recall, I always showed you tricks perched on some old, dirty crates backstage, or some bench in the park…"

Kalos was surprised when Sarah jumped off him swiftly and pulled him by the hand out the office. "Well, let's find ourselves some crates then." She laughed and tugged him towards the storage rooms.

Sora knew that the easiest way to get rid of this frustration was to turn off the computer and put it away, so that it wouldn't remind her of her brief, but embarrassing chat romance for too long. However, as she predicted, it wasn't enough. Her lo…no, her feelings….no, whatever she had developed towards Allegro couldn't be love or even partiality. She didn't know him. She couldn't trust him. She didn't even know he was what he presented himself to be. Thus she needn't cry. She had no reason to feel anything.

However, their two little conversations, and the tons of music she'd experienced over the past month, had planted something into her soul, and uprooting it now felt so hard she almost felt physical pain as she tried to extract it. It was horrible. Worse than a flu that didn't go away, more painful than the wounds on her legs, more horrible than the time when she thought she'd never be on the stage again. And it was so illogical she knew she didn't have to cry, and yet her biggest wish right now was to curl herself on a small ball and cry until she had no more voice.

Unfortunately, with Leon in the other room, that was impossible, unless she wanted him to know. Of course, there was always the option of faking PMS, but she'd never done it before, and that man knew how to see right through her.

Maybe I can pretend I'm sound asleep, she thought and quickly covered herself up. Sleep was good. He wouldn't bother her. He wouldn't worry. Probably she could fake it until he left for his own dorm…

"Sora?" his voice came from the kitchen door. She was lying with her back to him, eyes shut tight, waiting for him to realize she was sleeping and tiptoe back into the other room. However, instead of this, she heard approaching footfalls, and a moment later, the sound of a plate being left on the table. Then, to her utter horror and surprise, she felt the mattress behind her dip under his weight.

What on Earth was going on? Why was Leon coming closer? Why was he…he…What was he thinking!

She was somehow relieved when she felt his large palm on her forehead, checking her temperature. Her eyes were still closed, but by the faint puffs of air she felt against her cheek, she decided that he had leaned in to see if she was being sick or just dozing off. Strangely, his hands were cold, but the traces they left on her definitely weren't. As he pulled away, she swore she felt like his fingertips brushing against her skin were marking it.

The mattress returned to normal, but a second later the chair creaked and she heard the rustling of a book being opened. Was he going to stand by her? If she recalled right, Leon was hurt as well. Didn't HE have to rest? The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that he needed some sleep as well. Making up her mind, she sat up to tell him just that. She couldn't sleep with other people wide awake in the room anyways.

To his credit, Leon didn't even look surprised at her sudden awakening, nor her strange question. But he promptly avoided any more concerns for HIS health when he told her to eat her stew.

She hadn't even noticed the pot, honestly. But Leon had the best scolding-nurse gaze in the world and she found herself complying quickly, sitting on the edge of her bed and taking the cup with both hands. He didn't look up from his read until she finished, but by the time she was, he hadn't even turned a single page. How strange…he really did know how to read her. Sora couldn't come up with another explanation for his next question.

"Did something happen today?" he asked, not being the type to beat around the bush for. Sora tucked her feet back in the covers and pulled them up until she could rest her chin on her knees. Stupidly childish habit, but she somehow needed it. It was bad enough Leon was stuck looking after her, and that she was doing a horrible job trying to look cheery and calm for him. No hostess would lie about as her guest did all the work, especially in her pink and purple striped PJ's, but for some strange reason Leon didn't even seemed to notice. As if that man, perfect to a fault, seemed to prefer the company of a creature as flawed as her.

Of course. He probably spent so much with perfect people that he needed someone like her to feel real, Sora thought bitterly. Visions of him walking side by side that assistant, hand slung carelessly over her shoulder, a smirk playing on his lips, wrapped around her heart like thorns she couldn't get out. And though it was highly improbable, she felt like she was being mocked.

And why wouldn't she be? She shined on the stage alone. As soon as she left it, she became the plain, clumsy, insignificant Sora. How could she compare to any of those glamorous women that swirled around him like birds of paradise? How could he notice her, if she wasn't his partner? Sora wondered if they looked as ill-matched on stage as they did off it-his tall frame to her tiny one; his sharp, expressive eyes to her ordinarily boring ones; his gorgeous hair to her that mop of hay on her head. She couldn't compare to HIM, let alone the women of his life. That is, if he wasn't that dandy type that preferred that the woman did not rival his beauty.

Why was it so hard to have a boyfriend? She had no trouble making friends, and her friends coupled up with people they liked, and everything seemed peachy. Sure, Mia and her boyfriend weren't exactly on the best of terms at the moment, but every coupl had its ups and downs, and most of the time everything seemed so easy for them! Why couldn't she just get along with guys, like Anna, or dazzle them with her glamour like Layla, or seduce them with a challenge like May? Even now, as she was alone in her room with a person she liked a lot, she couldn't do anything to look anything but…sickly.

That's when she realized that he was still staring at her carefully. Why?

"Did you fight with someone?" he finally asked

"No." not like you could refer to a person you've never seen as someone "I just…thought about a lot of bad things and I got a headache."

"A lot of bad things?" Leon gave her a suspicious look "Would that perhaps have something to do with that wild chat you had going a few moments back?"

"Huh?" she yelped "How did you know that?!"

"Although you didn't say anything, I could still hear the sound of the messages getting delivered." He replied evenly

"But…" she flushed "Why didn't you say anything? I mean…umm…"

"The messages were addressed to you, no?" His eyebrow arched high "It is none of my business to nose around in your personal affairs. Besides, I guessed it was either Mia or Anna telling you about…whatever girls talk about. Did any of them say something that bothered you?"

"I…umm…." She blushed. Could she really talk to him about this? "Sort of…"

"Oh?"

"They were talking about a guy their mutual friend met on the Internet and…"

"She should break up with him immediately." Leon cut her off, startling her out of her skin

"I didn't even say why…"

"No matter. She shouldn't talk to him, if she doesn't know him." He placed his book on the table "You were discussing whether she should continue talking to him, no? And you thought of what could happen to that girl if she fell in the trap of some womanizer. It was enough to make you sick, you should see that breaking up with him is the best choice."

"That's true, but…" she babbled "I…Well…he doesn't necessarily have to be a bad person, you know…"

"Let me tell you one thing, Sora…" Leon began "The Internet provides immediate connection with everyone, everywhere, and anytime, but the anonymousness does nothing to help people. In fact, it helps them bring out their inner demon. The person they wanted to become, but never could. It may be alright for some time, but when it gets out of hand it may turn them into someone they're not. It's safer not to engage into conversation with someone you don't know outside of the chat room."

She blushed and stared at her quilt. Why did he have to make her feel so tiny and insignificant? As if she was a little girl being scolded. She knew she had acted foolish, but did she really need to feel so bad? Nothing really happened, didn't it? Tears welled in her eyes, tears not of love, but shame and fear. Why did it have to feel like the entire world was crashing down on her?

Great, maybe she was PMS-ing after all.

Sora heard his approach and buried her face into the quilt. She just couldn't face him right now. If he had to be with her all the time, he'd have to satisfy himself with the ugly, undignified version of her.

To her surprise Leon didn't say anything. He just rubbed her back slowly, soothingly, in tiny, but strong circles. Slowly, her body relaxed and warmed and she felt confident enough to look up at him. There was no change to his facial expression, but there was so much kindness in his gestures that she couldn't feel intimidated by him.

Just like when she fought Layla for the part of Odette. Leon could've dropped her. One wrong move, one moment of incertitude, one time of distrust and she could end up dying. And yet she had trusted him. Just because she knew he wasn't that kind of person.

"That's alright…" he told her, and it felt like his composure had passed onto her because she nodded and said in a completely calm voice

"I know. It didn't happen to me."

"But you really felt for that girl, no?"

"I did." She nodded "But she'll make the right decision. I know she will."

"Good." He let out one his rare smiles and got up "Can I get you anything else?"

"No, thank you. Though I wish I could do something, I feel like such an inadequate host." Sora laughed, wiping her tears away hastily

"When you get better…" Leon said "I'll come over so that you could amend for that. Agreed?"

"Agreed!"

A/N-This authoress needs her readers. Since I'm soon going away to a place where I will not have access to the Internet, I was planning on making this chappie a part of my going-away update. However, since now I feel stricken, I decided that I would update this, and your reviews would make me feel better. So please review, and I'll do my best for an update before I leave! Which couples will you like to see in the next chappie?