Author's Comments: At long last, it's here. Thank you for your patience! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani.

She creased her brow as she flipped between pages. These patients were so peculiar. Physically, they were quite healthy. They could give many of the doctors at HBMC a run for their money. Mentally, however…they appeared healthy according to normal standards, but—

Her files were snatched from her abruptly. "There'll be none of that here, Mademoiselle Aerith," Luxord chided firmly.

She tried to protest, "But—"

"You're not here to do work. You're here because you need a break."

"Luxord—"

"No. I don't want to see or hear of anything having to do with…" he scanned the first pages of the files, "Ansem…or Vanitas Osment." He shot her a sharp glance." I thought you were taking off from work."

"I am," she insisted…but her guilt made her tack on, "technically."

"Technically?" He raised a pierced eyebrow at her, tossing the files into his work cabinet on top of his back stock of hair products and locking it away. "Then why were these in your fair hands? My dear Aerith, you work too hard. How does Zack put up with you?"

Aerith sighed, wiggling her toes in the footbath and patting the arms of her comfy chair. "He kidnaps me and brings me to places where I'm forced not to work."

Luxord nodded with approval. "Good man. I'll be right back."

His footsteps thudded briskly and quietly on the tile floor as he left her side. She shook her head with a smile on her face. The odds of getting any work done were very, very slim. Oh well. She supposed she had this coming for the past month…or however much time had passed since the proposal. She found she was having a harder time keeping track of the days going by. As pitiful as it sounded, as long as she remembered her own wedding date, she knew she'd be fine.

Soon, Luxord returned with a porcelain teacup. "Here you go." He held it out for her. "Be careful. It's very hot."

"What's this?" she asked, taking the cup from him and peering inside. The aroma hit her senses and immediately her heart grew warm. She knew what this was.

"Magnolia oolong tea. Zack mentioned that was your favorite."

Zack. She loved him. He knew exactly what she needed.

She sipped it slowly and offered Luxord a grateful smile. "Thank you."

He smiled back, kneeling near her feet and picking one of them up. "Just relax and enjoy yourself today."

Something told Zexion to keep his distance. Given that following this something was usually wise, he chose to take a seat on the bench and observe silently. He had time. His last class of the day was cancelled, thank God. He couldn't stand Professor Owl's chattiness.

He considered pulling out his Lexicon and texting Demyx about this, but there was the chance that Roxas' careful look-over of one of the many school bulletin boards was unrelated to Namine. Perhaps the blond was searching for an event related to another friend of his. Perhaps he had free time this weekend and wanted to attend something school-related for a change of pace.

"Hey Roxas."

Zexion snorted when Roxas leapt at his name being called. Sora was jogging to his side with a cheeky grin on his face. "Whatcha do-o-o-ing?" the brunet asked innocently and loud enough for Zexion to hear.

Roxas didn't speak quite as loudly, but he ducked and shook his head of blond spikes fervently…and that spoke loudly enough to Zexion.

The slate-haired student smirked, reaching into his pocket for his phone. His eyes never left the two boys as he set up his video camera and began recording their banter. Sora ruffled Roxas' spikes good-naturedly, waving his hand to a random poster here and there. From what Zexion could remember about seeing those particular posters around campus, they advertised the latest exhibition at the Hollow Bastion Museum of Fine Arts.

There was no room for question. Only Namine could be on his mind. Excellent.

"Let's go to the student center, Rox. They're bound to have fliers you can take…"

Zexion made sure to catch the two-finger victory sign and the huge wink Sora flashed behind Roxas' back to him as they headed off before stopping the recorder and preparing to send a message to Demyx. This was sure to make his day. It certainly made Zexion's…albeit for a slightly different reason.

Xion walked around the fountain one last time, her frown growing deeper. Riku told her to meet him here ten minutes ago and he was nowhere in sight. Was he running late? No, he would've called or texted…

"Hey."

She turned to the voice and found a man with dark short hair and sunglasses. Weird. The sun was hiding behind a thick blanket of clouds today and it didn't look like the day would be getting brighter anytime soon. What a strange man. "Can I help you…?" she asked hesitantly.

The stranger cleared his throat and shifted from one leg to the other. "It's me," he murmured.

Xion cocked her head to the side. "Huh?"

He raised a hand to slide his shades down his slender nose slightly until his jade slanted eyes were revealed. "It's me," he repeated.

Her jaw dropped. No way. "R…Riku?"

"Shhhhhhh!" He clapped a hand over her mouth, his eyes widening. "Not so loud!"

"Sorry," she tried to say, but his hand muffled her voice. He seemed to understand, though, and removed it with a sigh. She looked him over for another good ten seconds, her brain clouding over with confusion. "What…Why're you…?"

He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held it out for her to take. She looked at the screen…and nearly dropped the phone. Riku stared passionately at her, his shirt unbuttoned and revealing a six-pack she had no idea he had. His jeans hung low on his hips—a little too low for comfort, she thought. "Single and searching" said the caption below the picture.

She hadn't realized she wasn't breathing until her lungs started burning. Her heart seemed to be pounding a bit harder than usual, too. How come? Was it that look Riku gave her in the picture? It was pretty intense, she'd admit. He looked like he wanted to eat her.

"That was sent to at least three-fourths of the female population in Hollow Bastion," he grumbled. "And probably to a bunch of females in some of the other worlds. Now everyone's out to get me."

A frown weighed down the corners of her mouth and her gut twisted uncomfortably. She could see why…but the thought made her chest hurt for some reason. She didn't like the idea of a bunch of girls chasing after him.

Her brow furrowed. What bothered her more was that she seemed to care whether he had girls chasing after him. It wasn't any of her business. She was just his friend.

Xion tore her eyes away from his phone. "Who did this?"

He scowled. "This jerk I know."

"Why?"

He didn't answer right away, choosing to push up his sunglasses. "Remember when I said I was working with Imani to get Cloud and Tifa together?" he began.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"We started the other day…" he sighed, "and Cloud struck back."

Her jaw dropped for the second time. "With this?" she exclaimed, holding up his phone.

He nodded. "I'm sure he did something to piss Imani off, too."

"Wow…" Words escaped her. All she could do was hand him back his phone and shake her head in awe. Pensive silence swallowed them as she watched him reach up to adjust his wig.

"Can I be honest about something?" Riku blurted after a minute.

Xion nodded.

He huffed, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and waving the other with gusto. "At first I only agreed to help Imani because of two reasons: one, she's a good friend of mine; and two, I thought it was about time Cloud and Tifa actually did something about their feelings." He shrugged. "I was like, 'Hey, this'll be kind of fun. It'll be like playing pranks for a good cause. Charity pranks.' It had a nice ring to it." One hand zoomed for his head—probably to rake through his hair—but stopped short and settled for pointing at the phone—probably because he realized he was wearing a wig. "Cloud made this personal after that, however. As of yesterday, this has become war."

Xion blinked. Whoa. Every word was laced with pent-up frustration. She'd never seen Riku so worked up about something before. He was always fairly calm and collected. This Cloud-and-Tifa thing must've meant serious business.

Well, yeah. It did. Riku was wearing a wig and incognito, after all.

"Xion," he grabbed her shoulders and gave them a squeeze, "are you still up to joining forces with us to bring Cloud dow—I mean, to bring him and Tifa together?"

She couldn't see his eyes through his dark sunglasses, but she was positive they were blazing with ambition. "S-Sure…"

"You sure? I don't want to pressure you into anything, but we can use all the help we can get. There's strength in numbers, after all."

Oh yeah. No pressure. Xion stomped on the urge to scoff and replied, "I'll do it."

"Good." He released her to count off with his fingers. "So we have you, me, Imani, Zack—oh ho ho, Zack's gonna be a powerhouse if Cloud did something to him, too—then there's Sora and Kairi and I think Imani said Cloud's cousin would help, too…Maybe Nam and Roxas can join us…You hungry?"

"Huh?" His sudden question caught her off guard. "Uh…a little?"

"Let's go get food."

"Where?"

"There." He pointed to the bakery on the corner across the street from the park. Without warning he started striding to the crosswalk so briskly that Xion had to half-jog to keep up with him. "We'll need carbs to brainstorm properly. We can grab spreads and stuff at the grocery store after." His thumb danced on the surface of his phone as he spoke. "I'm gonna call Sora and tell him and Kairi to meet up with us for lunch at Seventh Heaven…and I'll tell him to tell Kairi to tell Nam and Roxas to come if they're not busy. I think Zack's working today and Cloud's probably not gonna be there…Where's your phone?"

"Why?" Xion huffed. Her side was beginning to ache.

"I wanna give you their numbers. We need to stay in close contact."

She laughed breathlessly, vaguely wondering if this war would interfere with her reading time.

His eyes locked with hers when she entered the kitchen. He saw the signs: furrowed brow, heated coffee brown eyes, frowning mouth, slumped shoulders, fingers twitching into fists. She didn't say a word when she saw him, but it was written all over her face. She heard, she knew, and she was pissed.

He loved it.

The door swung shut behind her as she walked coolly to the cabinet by the fridge to put her things away. His skin prickled at a slight chill he noticed as she passed him and had to swallow down a chuckle. He didn't bother holding back the smirk from tugging up his lips, though, and went back to eating his leftovers.

After closing the cabinet, she stepped around him again and took a seat right in front of him. He looked up from his food to lock gazes with her again, beginning the countdown when she narrowed her eyes.

Three. Two. One.

"You jerk," Imani growled.

Cloud merely stared back at her, shoveling the last bite of beef stir-fry into his mouth and tossing the fork into his bowl with a clatter. She honestly couldn't have thought she could get away without him doing anything. He knew how to play matchmaker, too.

"You. Jerk."

His smirk grew.

"What the hell am I supposed to tell Axel when he comes today?" she demanded, her voice dropping dangerously.

He shrugged. Axel might not have heard any—

"And I know he's going to bring it up because I know you told him to listen yesterday."

Oh yes he did. He often pulled out the text message conversation on his phone to relish in his accomplishment.

"Jerk."

What? Telling him the truth wouldn't hurt.

"I didn't announce anything about you and Tifa. Besides, you should be happy you get to model with her."

He didn't want her modeling in the first place. That was what started this.

"At least she's taking pictures with you and not some other guy."

No "you'll thank me later" statement was going to help her case.

"And anyway, there's nothing going on between me and Axel."

He blinked, his eyes half-lidded skeptically. Liar.

"We're just friends."

Liar, liar. That blush spoke otherwise.

"Don't go spreading rumors."

Oh please.

"Zack's already pissed at you for inviting Axel to his bachelor party."

Yeah. He knew.

"If he hears about yesterday—"

"Bring it."

Her threat died on her tongue and tumbled out her mouth as her jaw dropped. Cloud smirked one last time at her before scooting his chair out and taking his dishes to the sink.

"Okay," Imani finally said after a long pause. "Fine. It's on, secret lover boy. It is on."

He ruffled her hair as he passed her on his way to the bar, chuckling under his breath. She didn't scare him. She hardly had the guts to be in the same room as Axel for more than ten minutes. It'd take a lot to top him.

She saw him blink in mild surprise behind his glasses a moment after his image appeared on the computer screen. "Hey," Terra said. "Your hair got long."

"I know." She played with a deep blue tress, twirling it around a finger before setting it across her upper lip like a mustache. "I've been meaning to cut it but I haven't found the time."

"Been busy with work?"

"Yeah…" She nodded, twisting her lips in a frown. The tress fell from her face. "When was the last time we talked?"

Terra leaned back in his chair, taking off his glasses and rubbing a temple as he hummed in thought. "A few months ago, I think."

Wow…had it really been that long? Where did the time go? "How've you been? Ven told me about the wedding plans. He can't wait."

"Yeah. I noticed."

A giggle crept out of her throat. The way he deadpanned just now…It was nice to see his busy work schedule hadn't changed him much. "He said there's something going on with Cloud, too."

He sighed a bit long-sufferingly. "Everyone's teaming up on Cloud and Tifa to get them together," he elaborated for her. "The girl I'm paired up with for the wedding—Imani, Zack's cousin—told me to tell Ven that he's officially recruited for the cause."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Oh boy," she half-laughed. "That'll make his day."

"As hard as it may be to keep quiet about it, you mind letting me break the news to him?" A corner of his mouth curled up in a fond grin. "I want to see his face when he finds out."

"Of course."

"Thanks."

She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Are you looking forward to the wedding?"

Terra shrugged with one shoulder. "I suppose. It's about time Zack and Aerith tied the knot. I'm sure you're looking forward to it," he said with a quick upward flick of his eyebrows.

She mimicked his shrug. "I suppose. It'll be a nice break from work…and it'll be nice to see everyone again."

He nodded slowly. For a moment he didn't respond, choosing to watch her carefully. "Everything okay with you?" he asked after a while.

And there it was: the perception that proved how well Terra knew her. She wasn't the least bit surprised upon hearing him ask. She could feel him begin to peel away the already-flimsy walls holding in her exhaustion. "Yeah," she answered anyway.

She knew he knew she was answering anyway, and she knew he was asking anyway: "You sure?"

A sigh crept out of her as she broke eye contact with him. Everything wasn't really okay with her. She had no time to mull on whether everything was really okay. Work took up most of her time and whatever time she had left she used to sleep, eat, or hang out with Ven…and whenever she hung out with Ven, they always reminisced about the good old days with Terra and how tempting the notion of ditching work and school to hop a Gummi ship to Hollow Bastion and screw the consequences, dammit, they had to live while they were still young—

No. Everything wasn't okay. "We miss you," she admitted with a frown, pushing aside the memory of the most recent incident of accidentally becoming too tipsy to successfully stop Ven from sneaking a sip or ten of her vodka and orange juice.

"I miss you, too. And I would hop a Gummi ship, too, if I had the time and the guts to risk getting fired by the HBMC board."

Her shoulders sagged. It honestly sucked that one of her best friends lived several thousand miles away, eight hours ahead, and an always-packed schedule apart from her. Of course, she loved her job and she was proud of him for his, but the demands and conflicts still rained on the parade.

"I still have it."

She looked to him once more in time to catch him slip a hand down his shirt and pull up an orange glass star-shaped pendant—his wayfinder.

Immediately a wave of emotion rushed from her heart through every vein in her body. "I'm glad," she told him, blinking away the pressure of tears against the backs of her eyes.

"Where's yours?"

"Right here." Her fingers took hold of the cord around her neck and pulled out her own blue wayfinder, letting it dangle before the screen.

Terra smiled when he saw it and let his wayfinder rest against his chest. "The wedding's only a few months away," he stated, a hint of reassurance in his words.

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod. "We just have to keep doing our best."

He began to nod…but a yawn stretched his mouth wide. "Yeah," he said the moment his yawn passed.

She smiled. He must've been exhausted. "I'll let you go. It's really late over there."

His eyes darted away from her for a split-second—probably to glance at the clock in the corner of his computer screen—and offered her an apologetic frown. "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"We'll definitely talk again soon."

She nodded. "I know we will. Take care."

A corner of his lips curled up. "You too, Aqua."

Author's Afterthought: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.