Author's Note: You guys ready? This is the start of the conclusion to the story. I'm so excited! I won't bore you with a long author's note but I do want to thank everyone who has been reading thus far. I wanna give thanks to the readers, those who fave, those who alert and a shout out to the reviewers ventus4ever, animechick247, ShatterTheHeavens, Princess Nexda the Wise, Frooky90, Lazyxafternoons, Sayonara Yasashii Akumu, Queen Micky, crying sage, Khaotic Kal, and Hitomi Kogure. All of you guys are awesome for the support!

Well I won't keep you. Tell me what you think and I'll try and get this next chapter out as soon as possible. Take care! Btw the last two sections of the chapter were inspired by the song "Mirrors" by Natalia Kills. Give the song a listen. It's pretty cool!

-Skye

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Heart or Final Fantasy. I only own the OCs.


Naminé, Jasmine and Sofia entered the bridal shop early one Saturday morning.

Jasmine's mother looked over her shoulder. "Weren't you supposed to be visiting my future son this weekend?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I figured that looking at my wedding gown was more important than hanging out."

Sofia sighed, pulling her purse close to her side. "You two can wait right here, I need to make sure that the place is empty." She gave Naminé a small smile before heading to the front desk.

Naminé and Jasmine took a seat near the windows. The blond whispered to Jasmine, "Why is it so empty here? Shouldn't there be other people?"

Jasmine leaned over. "We don't want the public to know that I'm getting married. At this age, it'll ruin my reputation for sure and bouncing back with a clean image might be close to impossible."

"So we have the whole place to ourselves?"

"Yeah. Vanitas paid them off to close down for a few hours," Jasmine replied, shifting in the stiff chair.

Naminé hesitated at first. "Your plans with Vanitas fell through? Was it some kind of date?"

"It was," Jasmine snickered a bit, "but I changed plans. I'm sure he's pissed beyond recognition but I don't care."

Sofia returned with the manager and an assistant. "Jasmine, are you ready?"

Jasmine pulled herself out of the chair and linked arms with Naminé. "Not at all," she replied curtly, "But we need to get this done." She brushed past her mother and smiled at the assistants. "Thank you all for closing down for a few hours. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

The younger sales associate reached out to shake Jasmine's hand, smiling brightly. "Oh no problem Ms. Silva! It's an honor to meet you! I'm a huge fan."

Jasmine shook the young woman's hand, blushing slightly at the complement. "You flatter me, really. And you've signed the confidentiality contract, right?"

The manager stepped forward. "Your fiancée has the contract with both signatures where they need to be. Everything is set. Now…" She led Jasmine, Naminé and a clearly-irritated Sofia into the gallery, "we've set out a variety of our best gowns for you and your maid of honor." She stepped aside. "Please, look around."

The trio broke off and looked at the elegant gowns hand-picked for Jasmine. Some ranged from simple to complicated, some form-fitting to lose, and some from dramatic to classic. They had been looking for at least ten minutes on their own.

Naminé had managed to drag Jasmine down an aisle, away from her mother and the eyes of the sale's associates.

"I can't believe you're really going through with this," Naminé said sadly.

Jasmine smiled ruefully. "It's December. This has to happen. Which reminds me," she trailed off, "Vanitas caved and said that the bridesmaids can wear gold. After we get my dress situation sorted out, it's up to you to pick the dresses everyone else will wear."

"But," Naminé disregarded the statement about the dresses. What she had to say was more important. "Are you sure there's no way out of the wedding? You don't love him."

"I know," Jasmine said casually, "but I'm not going to fight with my mother right now."

"Does she know you don't want to be with Vanitas?"

"I've definitely let her know that from the day of the engagement. But now she's been blocking me out. I think she's tired of arguing. I swear it's like he's the son she always wanted and never had," Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Jasmine," Sofia began, ushering her daughter and friend to one dress in particular, "what do you think of this?"

Jasmine and Naminé stood in front of a mannequin. The dress was gorgeous, that much was for sure. But had Jasmine been searching for her wedding gown years later, away from the influence of her parents and actually marrying the man she loved, she might have actually been more enthusiastic about the dress.

The older manager held at least five gowns in her arms and directed Jasmine toward a dressing room. "We've got quite a few gowns so we can figure out which direction we need to be heading in. Try these on."

Jasmine broke away from Naminé and stepped into the dressing room with an assistant. "Here goes nothing."


"Sir," Vexen said with a slight sneer, "I told you that tramp is a pain."

Vexen and Vanitas sat at a restaurant eating lunch on the patio overlooking the ocean.

Vanitas did not bother to hide his ire at the point. "First off," he warned Vexen dangerously, "you will NOT call her that."

Vexen immediately stiffened at the threat. The anger in Vanitas' eyes was clear and Vexen did not want to test his luck with his partner in such a foul mood.

"Secondly," Vanitas cleared his throat and drank his tea, "I'm going to ask you to stay out of my affairs when it comes to my fiancée. It's none of your concern."

"But, Sir, it is my concern when the person I am working with is in a rut because he cannot control one girl," Vexen said boldly.

Vanitas glared at Vexen darkly. If it was at all possible in the cool December weather, the air around Vanitas chilled even more. Vexen shrank in his seat. The power of Vanitas' glare was insane.

"I'll deal with Jasmine later," Vanitas stared off into the ocean. 'When I get my hands on her…' He did not allow himself a chance to dwell on the thought any longer. "Have we finished with Mr. Silva?"

Vexen nodded. "Indeed. We have successfully drained his savings account. But we have to be careful. We don't want anything showing up where he notices what we've been doing."

"And what about his other accounts?"

The blond pulled out a folder and read through it. "We're leaving the one where he's paying for his daughter's wedding alone for now. I had no idea he cared so much for her to have a separate account to pay for her schooling and wedding."

"How much is in there?" Vanitas' curiosity had been stirred.

"It's a quarter shy of a million dollars," Vexen answered.

Vanitas' eyes widened. "Well what do you know? Maybe he does care for her. Too bad she's already rejected him thoroughly."

"And what do you want to do with that account?"

"Leave it alone," Vanitas said.

Vexen was confused. "Are you sure you want that, Sir?"

"I don't want an idiot on my arm," Vanitas called over a waiter for another drink, "I'd pay for her education myself but seeing as the money is already there, leave it be."

"And you want her to be even MORE educated now? It's quite clear that the girl is not ecstatic over the wedding. Why not teach her a lesson and take hold of her money? If I were you, I'd watch out for her."

"And you think Jasmine is going to one day screw me over?" Vanitas scoffed. "She's not that smart." Yet despite the proclamation Vanitas was still unsure of himself on that one. 'I'm still ahead of her,' he told himself. 'She won't get to me. I won't let that happen.'


Jasmine stood in the dressing room with the phone pressed to her ear.

"Are you sure it's set up?" She asked in a hushed, serious voice. "You have no idea how much this is helping me."

"Jasmine," her mother cried out, "are you done?"

'Looks like I'll be seeing a lot of red soon,' Jasmine thought.

She hung up the phone and sighed. This was the twentieth wedding dress she tried on that day. Between changing out from gown to gown with its own set of undergarments, Jasmine was tired. She walked carefully in the gown and opened the door, stepping out in front of the entire group.

"Well," she said bashfully, "what do you think?"

The entire room fell silent.

"Jasmine," Naminé beamed, "you look amazing."

Sofia's eyes began to tear up. She was speechless.

"I must say," the assistant said with a smile of approval, "many brides have tried that gown on and no one has looked better in it than you have. That's a fact."

Jasmine mother and the workers went to the back, chatting about accessories and such, leaving Naminé and Jasmine alone.

The dark-haired girl waited until they all left before falling to her knees, refusing to look at her reflection in the mirror.

Naminé rushed to her side, placing her hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I'd be okay through this part," Jasmine admitted, clutching the dress, "that it wouldn't hit me. But I'll probably be married before the school year is over. I don't think I can go through with this but I have to."

Naminé gave Jasmine's shoulders a squeeze. "We're trying to think of something. We're not gonna let you get married to someone you don't love."

Naminé's cell phone vibrated in her pocket.

Jasmine forced a smile. "I'm fine. I'm just gonna change out of my clothes, okay?"

Naminé nodded and rushed to her purse, taking the phone call outside.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Jasmine finally looked at her reflection. "Looks like I don't have that much time left," she said sadly.


Riku, Sora and Roxas stood in the latter's bedroom.

"She's up to something," Roxas broke through the silence first.

Sora shifted through the photos he had taken over the past few days. In one shot, it was Jasmine having lunch with Vanitas. Both of them were looking through something that didn't appear to be related with the wedding. Then there was another shot of her meeting with someone at a bank. Jasmine appeared to be smiling in the photograph and was handed a yellow envelope.

"How do you know she's not doing anything with the record company?" Sora inquired. "I mean, she does handle a lot of her own business, right?"

Riku shook his head. "My mom has taken a lot of control over Jasmine's affairs as of late to keep her from stressing."

"I can sense it," Roxas set the photos into a pile. "Something's changed."

"About what?" This came from Sora.

"About Jasmine," Roxas answered. "It feels like," he paused in an attempt to put his thoughts into words, "she's doing better now but that there's something she's sad about."

"Probably the marriage," Sora told them. "Jasmine does not hide the fact that she doesn't want to get married. I mean, would you be happy if you were in her situation?"

Roxas sighed. "I get that, but there's something else. Like, something bad is gonna happen."

Riku tensed up. "Why don't we just confront her about it?"

"No good," Sora's head drooped.

Riku balled his fist. "And why not?"

Sora stepped out and put his arms over his chest. "If something bad is going to happen," he then looked to Roxas, "and we don't have proof of that yet, but she wouldn't tell us because she wouldn't want us to get involved. Jasmine, if she can avoid it totally, will NOT put anyone in a position where they'll get hurt."

Roxas took a seat in a chair near the window. He appeared to be deep in thought as if there was something he was trying to remember.

"What is it, Roxas?" Sora inquired.

The blond hesitated at first. "She's been with Axel a lot lately."

Sora and Riku looked at each other in confusion. "Axel?" Riku questioned.

"I didn't know they were friends," Sora stated.

"They were always cool," he glanced at Riku before continuing as if he was looking for permission to say this next statement, "that's how it was even before me and her started dating."

"Why is she with Axel? How do you know this?"

Roxas answered Sora's questions tiredly. "Because they are friends and because he's my best friend. I've seen them together a couple of times going out to eat and him pass by her house. One time especially," Roxas cleared his throat, "I went to go see her because she was out of school for an interview and dropped off her homework. When I walked up the steps, I heard voices in the house. One of them was Axel."

"Then what?" Sora knew that Roxas stumbled upon something.

Slowly and carefully Roxas explained. "I heard Axel telling Jasmine, 'You need to be careful. This won't end well,' and Jasmine told him, 'I know what I'm getting into. If it comes to that, you know what to do' and then the door flew open and Axel was walking out." Roxas finished by saying, "He was totally normal as if nothing had happened and just left."

"They're not just hanging out," Riku realized.

"So what's the next step?" Sora stretched out, ready to go do whatever he had to do.

"Talk to Axel," Roxas proposed. "It's the only way we can figure out what's really going on."

Riku leaned on the desk. He could feel it. They were one step closer to the truth. "Make the call."


Jasmine sat on the very bench where she had told Riku her first name a year ago, watching the waves crash against the rocks. She laughed hollowly. A year ago she never expected her life to have taken such an unexpected turn.

"You know," Riku's voice came out of the distance and he rounded a corner, walking towards her with a slow yet confident stride, "a year ago you thought I would have dumped your body somewhere."

She smiled a bit at the memory. She wished dearly that she could go back to those days.

"It's still a possibility you know," Jasmine said, scooting over so that Riku could sit down with her.

Riku laughed. "I'd never do that," he said. "Even though back then you used to get under my skin."

"That's because I didn't fall for your charm or looks," Jasmine crossed her legs. "Admit it."

Riku was silent for a moment. "You're only half right." He paused. "You were also a smart ass."

Jasmine grinned. "Glad you remember the good stuff." She glanced at the scarf hanging around Riku's neck. "You still have that thing?"

"Of course. I hate the cold weather and your scarf does the trick," Riku shivered and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Well it's yours now. Hopefully it'll keep you warm."

Riku yawned. He had fallen asleep waiting for Roxas to talk to Axel. The only thing that woke him up was a call from Jasmine.

"Hey Riku, what are you up to?"

He glanced at his clock. "Nothing as of yet. Why?"

She sighed on the other end of the line. "Want to go on a friend date?"

Riku answered "yes" so readily even though seeing her nowadays killed him. What if she actually ended up marrying Vanitas? What if she moved away for their friends, her family? From him? "What did you do today?" He asked, ignoring his thoughts and enjoying the time they had together.

Jasmine stiffened but refused to get down about her situation. "I looked at wedding gowns."

The air suddenly became thick and heavy.

"Oh," Riku muttered. Surprisingly, a smile appeared. "I'm sure you'll look beautiful in anything you wear."

"Thanks," Jasmine said politely. "I just wish that none of this was happening. I'm not ready to get married. Not to him."

"My offer still stands," Riku announced.

Jasmine exhaled. "I'm not going to let you ruin your life by running away. Besides I'm still a minor."

Riku scoffed. "And you're engaged to someone over twenty one."

Jasmine let the statement sink in. "Point taken." She shook away the thought. "But the point is Riku, I would not let you mess up your life for me." Jasmine looked at him with concern. "I just want you to be happy."

"Faye, I've never been happier since you moved to the island. If you're gone, I'm not going to be happy."

Jasmine refused to meet his stare. "You were happy before we met. Try to go back to that. Besides we're graduating soon. You're going off to school. You said you wanted to be a director like your father. Pursue it. Eventually you will find happiness there."

"But you make it sound as if you won't be around at that time," Riku then asked, "what's going on?"

Jasmine smiled slightly then. "I'm just finally taking control." She placed her hand on his knee. "You should talk to your dad. We finished the video for the song. I think you'll like it." She stood up then.

"Why did you call me here?" Riku asked finally.

She felt her eyes stinging. The tears were sure to come. "I wanted to see you again back at the place where we really began." Jasmine held out her left hand and there on her ring finger was the ring he gave her the day they confessed their feelings. "I shouldn't even be here with you like this, but I guess I'm selfish. I'm sorry."

"Faye, what are you planning? We know you're up to something," Riku said sternly. "Tell me what's going on."

"I hope you'll be proud of the video and of me," she said dismissively. "I'm not the same girl who came here a year ago."

"Are you going to get hurt?" He demanded, standing up now. "If you don't say something right now..."

Riku was cut off when Jasmine took a step toward him and kissed his cheek before throwing her arms tightly around him, burying her face in his chest. "I knew you guys were following me the whole time. I'm not sure if you've been up to it in the past few days or week but I knew it the entire time. It's okay though. It just means you all really do care. I appreciate it." She pulled back. "I've got to help Tifa out. I can't stay."

"But we just got here," he protested, stroking her hair off her face.

She pursed her lips and chuckled. "We really did, huh?" Jasmine turned on her heel and walked back. Before she was gone, she looked back at Riku and smiled. "I love you." And with that she was gone.

'She still doesn't listen to me,' Riku shook his head, frustration clear on his face. If things were as bad as they seemed, Jasmine might be in serious trouble and despite his best efforts, he might not be able to help her.

'Please don't leave me...'


"Yes!" Yuffie cheered while everyone sat at the dining room table.

"Did you find something?" Aerith asked, coming from the kitchen.

The cheerful young woman jumped out of her chair. "We can take her parents to court next week! I've done a bit of research and Tifa can get custody of Jasmine if the parents are unfit - which they clearly are - and with the guy Cloud knows, Tifa's got this in the bag!"

Tifa smiled in satisfaction. This had been a long event for the past few months. It was nice to finally see things working out.

"Where is Jasmine?" Zack asked, typing away on his laptop.

As if on cue, Jasmine came down the stairs wearing dark stockings, black pumps and a trenchcoat covering her outfit.

"What's up?" She asked, tucking her phone into her pocket.

Zack jumped up. "Good news kid, we have a strong enough case to take your parents to court and stop this wedding. Tifa will probably have custody over you. Isn't that great?"

Jasmine only smiled enough to make it seem as if she were excited. "That's wonderful news actually." She came over to the group and hugged everyone from Zack, Aerith, Yuffie and Tifa. Cloud had only walked in the door and was shocked to find the girl embracing him.

"You're in a good mood," Aerith noticed a change in Jasmine. "By the way, where are you going?"

"To see Vanitas," Jasmine released Cloud and walked over to Tifa and hugged her once more. "Just tying up some loose ends."

Zack frowned. "You know I don't like you seeing him."

"I know Zack," Jasmine wrapped her arms around Tifa's shoulders. "But this is business. It has to be done." She pulled out her keys. "I'll see you guys later."

Tifa's maternal instincts kicked in as Jasmine began walking away. "I want you home in a couple of hours." Something didn't seem right.

"I'll do my best," Jasmine called from the entryway. A car starting followed after a door slamming shut and she was gone.

Zack looked to Aerith. "What's wrong?"

Aerith's eyes narrowed. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"You feel it too?" Tifa asked, equally concerned.

The brunette nodded. She turned to Zack. "Let's stay until Jasmine comes home, okay?"

Zack looked to Yuffie who was equally confused. "I don't get it. If she says she'll be back, she's coming back."

"I just have a feeling something bad is going to happen," Aerith explained.

Cloud walked into the room and rested a hand on Tifa's shoulders. "I'll stay too."

Tifa covered his hand with one of her own. "Thanks, Cloud." She was happy that he already knew what she was thinking. It spared her from having to outwardly express herself, especially when she was on edge like she was now.

'Be careful, Jasmine.'


Vanitas threw his stuff down as he entered his apartment. Strangely though, on this night, he was exceptionally tired. Dealing with Vexen, Mr. Silva and Jasmine (albeit indirectly) was mentally exhausting.

He stopped in the doorway and sniffed the air. There was a familiar fragrance in the area, one that he had grown to recognize almost immediately.

Vanitas walked into the dining room and spotted Jasmine sitting on the table drinking something from a wine glass.

"Well isn't this a surprise," he said with a slightly harder edge than expected. "What are you doing here?"

Jasmine smiled then before taking another sip of (what one would assume) was wine. "We were supposed to spend the weekend together so here I am."

Vanitas held his composure. "How did you get into the apartment?"

"Oh, the doorman recognized me. I showed him the ring and said I wanted to surprise my future husband."

'I don't know whether to have him fired or not,' Vanitas thought, deciding to take care of that later. "So what do I owe this visit?"

Jasmine sashayed over to Vanitas with a full glass of wine in her hand. "I just told you why I'm here." She kissed his cheek and then made her way into his office with him following behind. Jasmine sat on the desk, set her own glass down and then crossed her legs. "I thought you wanted to spend time together."

"You keep pulling this disappearing act on me," Vanitas said harshly.

"For the wedding, that's why," she told him simply. "But I said we could have a weekend." Jasmine reached forward and pulled him forward by his tie. "And I'm keeping up with my end of the deal."

Vanitas recognized the passionate stare in her eyes. They were so hungry. She never looked at him in that way before. It excited and unnerved him at the same time. "What do you want?"

Jasmine told him to drink and he did so. She finished the remainder of her glass and slowly stripped him of his blazer all the while never tearing her eyes from his. As Jasmine went to work with his tie, she kissed his jawline all the way down to his neck with the same hunger and aggression she had in her eyes.

Vanitas was taken back by Jasmine's behavior. Not once has she ever been this forward or willing for that matter. His mind was clouding in a fog of desire and the only thing that snapped him out of his daze was when Jasmine had stood up and pushed him back on the couch in his office to where he was lying on his back.

Jasmine walked over and was now straddling him. She tossed her coat off to the side, revealing herself in the exact same dress she had been wearing the day she met Vanitas.

"Is that - ?" He was cut off when Jasmine placed a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up," she snapped. For the briefest moment, anger flashed in her eyes. "And yes it is the same dress." The anger disappeared, now replaced by the same hunger in her eyes Vanitas was caught off guard by initially. "You're not going anywhere tomorrow that has to do with business. I've already cancelled everything you have to do. As a matter of fact," She reached into the pocket of his slacks and pulled out the keys, sliding off Vanitas and rushing out the door, tossing the keys somewhere in the living room. Like she had anticipated, he followed. "You're not going anywhere period."

Vanitas snaked his arms around Jasmine from the back. "I don't know what's gotten into you," he nibbled on her neck and pushed her hair over to the other side, "but I love it."

Jasmine whipped around and silenced him by locking him in a breathtaking kiss. She grabbed his belt and led him backwards into the bedroom. "Don't say anything," she said between breaths. Once inside, she locked the bedroom door. "You're gonna ruin it."

Vanitas lifted Jasmine into the air and set her on the bed. Before returning her kiss with one of his own, he hopped off the bed, hovering over her and pinning her arms above her head. He looked for any sign of fear, anger, anything that resembled the girl he had taken not so long ago. He flipped off the light beside his bed and allowed their bodies to do the talking for the rest of the night.


Jasmine's eyes creaked open as soon as she was sure Vanitas was sound asleep. She feigned sleep for at least an hour, making sure that he himself took the hint and went to bed as well. Jasmine smiled. All that work Angela put her through to act in front of a camera was finally paying off. She sat up in the bed, not bothering to cover herself at this point. It was three in the morning.

Vanitas was knocked out. Apparently he was exhausted. Jasmine smirked. 'Now stay asleep,' she closed her eyes, 'Forgive me Riku for what I've done.'

She stealthily rolled out of bed and over to the nightstand where she kept a backpack. She pulled out another set of underwear, jeans, combat boots and a simple black tank with a zip up hoodie. There was no time for a shower. If Vanitas woke up, everything would be ruined. She just hoped that he was as tired as he looked walking in the door. From that, the bottle of wine he killed on his own and the...physical activity he'd endured for the evening, he would surely stay out of it until at least seven o'clock in the morning.

Jasmine snuck into the living room where she threw the keys and picked them up. Now inside his office, after she turned on the desk lamp, she unlocked the bottom drawer where his files were. After sorting through at least two dozen folders, Jasmine smiled at the three she had discovered. She tip-toed back into the bedroom and stuffed them into her backpack with the clothes she had worn earlier.

Slipping on her glasses, she threw her backpack on her back and stared at Vanitas who was sleeping soundly. She pocketed his keys, glared at the figure wrapped in the sheets and headed out.

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart," she said darkly, locking the door behind him and heading out of the apartment.