Jasmine's eyes creaked open as the light from the new day crept into her bedroom. As she yawned, she remembered that today she was hanging out with Naminé on campus. She invited her to one of her art-history classes so they could spend some time together and catch up.

Just then, Jasmine shifted her focus to her right hand that had been balled up into a fist the entire time she slept.

Relaxing her hand, the charm necklace that she and Ventus often fought over dropped to the sheets with a heavy thud. And just like that, the memory of what happened that night on Traverse Town played itself over in her head, forcing her to relive that horrific day once more.

Jasmine recalled the warmth she felt as she slipped into unconsciousness in Ven's arms.

He was always like that: warm.

Always radiating from within.

'But…' Jasmine lamented as she stared at the charm. 'You're gone.'

Even though she was tight-lipped about the subject, not a day or an hour went by that Jasmine didn't think about Ven. Those around asked why she hadn't talked about him since she left the hospital but each time, she changed the subject or gave them the run around until they eventually gave up asking. But the truth was that deep down, even though she was struggling with feeling anything, each day without him seemed…empty.

For most of her time in SOLDIER, Jasmine and Ven had been as close as can be. They knew everything about each other, they went through so hell together, and they'd had a connection like no other. To have him ripped away from her in such a way was more difficult than she'd imagined.

And yet, she was still unable to make sense of her feelings towards it all.

Then again, she couldn't feel much anyway.

Before Jasmine could go even deeper down the rabbit hole of her memories, the vibration of her work cell phone put a quick halt to her thoughts. Without looking at the caller ID, Jasmine snatched the phone off her nightstand and closed her eyes. It was still early in the morning so it could only be SOLDIER-related. And even though she was technically on vacation, Jasmine wanted to make sure she kept up to date on what was going on. After all, if SOLDIER was calling her at this hour it must've been important.

Jasmine cleared her throat before answering with a raspy "hello?". Even though she was, in theory, getting better every day, her voice still cracked. It was just another unfortunate side effect of her Traverse Town experience.

"Good morning, Jasmine. I hope I didn't wake you up."

Jasmine's eyes widened when she realized it was Noctis calling her.

"Good morning," she replied slowly. "Sorry…I didn't think you'd call my work phone…"

"I tried calling your cell but it went straight to voicemail," Noctis explained, his voice unusually light and even cheerful.

Jasmine looked at her nightstand and stared at her personal cell phone. Almost immediately, she remembered turning it off before she went to bed.

"Sorry about that," she apologized, running her fingers through her bangs. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" she asked as she put the necklace she'd been holding away in her top nightstand drawer.

"Everything's fine," he reassured her gently. "Are you just now getting up?"

Jasmine tilted her head from side to side and rotated her shoulders to wake herself up more. "Yeah. I was already awake when you called. I was gonna try and get a workout in and get back on schedule. I have to go back to work at some point."

"Fair, but don't over-exert yourself, Jasmine," Noctis advised.

"I won't," she promised. "But what's up? You usually don't call this early."

Noctis cleared his throat. "I know. But…I have something for you."

Jasmine froze just as she was about to get out of bed. "Something for me?" she repeated, clearly confused. "Is it for work?"

"No," the prince replied with a nervous laugh. "Check the living room."

Jasmine's heart began to race. "What is it?"

"Just go to the living room. It should be on top of the piano - you won't miss it."

Unsure of what to think but still curious, Jasmine put on her slippers and followed Noctis' instructions.

As she walked through the apartment, she noticed how quiet it was. She recalled Tifa mentioning going to the store early in the morning and figured that was why she was nowhere to be found.

Just as Jasmine stepped foot into the living room, she froze. Sitting right on top of the piano was a giant arrangement of white lilies and lilies in a towering crystal vase. As Jasmine approached the piano, taking in the sweet scent of the flowers, she also spotted two black boxes with white bows right at the base of the vase. However, as she got closer and examined the boxes, she noticed that one had a gold tag on it while the other had a silver tag attached.

"Do you see it?" Noctis asked curiously.

Jasmine was nearly speechless.

"Y-Yeah," she stammered. "They're beautiful." Just then, Jasmine paused and asked a question she already knew the answer to. "Are these for me?"

"Of course," Noctis said, seemingly taken aback by Jasmine's question. "I told you I had something for you…do you like them?"

Jasmine reached for the royal purple bow tied around the vase, still caught off guard. "Yes…the flowers are gorgeous. Thank you."

"And do you see the boxes?"

The raven-haired girl averted her gaze from the extravagant floral arrangement to the boxes sitting right at the base of the vase. "Yeah, I do."

"Open the one with the silver bow," he instructed.

Jasmine's hand shook as she reached for the box but stopped right before she could reach it.

All she could think about was how she still needed to tell Noctis about Ven. Taking gifts from him when she knew she was going to upset him didn't sit right with her. And even though she and Noctis only just now started dating (if she could even call it that), it still felt wrong especially after she initially gaslit him about the situation.

"Noctis," she said with a heavy sigh. "I have to tell you something first."

"I'm sure it can wait. Just open it," Noctis insisted.

Sighing heavily, Jasmine did as she was told and lifted the lid off the box with the silver tag. Once she removed the sturdy lid, her eyes widened as she stared at a beautiful yet simple, silver chain bracelet with two charms on both sides. One charm was a half crescent moon with a shimmering red crystal in the center and the other charm was of the sun with another red crystal in the center as well. Jasmine lifted the bracelet, taken aback by the weight of it and held it up to the light.

"So…" Noctis was practically chomping at the bit to get her response. "Do you like it?"

Her hazel gold eyes remained transfixed on the bracelet. The crystals were very similar to the one in the ring Noctis had lent her that she'd recently returned to him before he left on his trip. She couldn't quite put it into words, but there was something strange and familiar about the bracelet, namely the jewels.

"I like it a lot," she said distantly. "You didn't have to…"

"I wanted to," Noctis stressed gently. "I wanted you to have something from my home that you could keep."

Jasmine continued to stare at the stones in the bracelet. They looked remarkably similar to the ones in the ring he'd loaned her. And the charms themselves were unique. The design was simple, yet they had an antique look to them. She'd never seen such a design for the sun and moon before.

"About the bracelet," Noctis cleared his throat before he went on to explain. "I got it at a shop in the capital. The sun and moon charms are symbolic to our people. You'll see them in all the churches in a lot of paintings. And the red crystals…those are caelum crystals. I had it blessed by our high priest too."

Jasmine nearly dropped the bracelet out of shock.

THE caelum crystals?

The same ones that Noctis' country went to war over all those years ago?

And he was gifting them to her?

"Noctis, I can't accept this," she managed as she shook her head.

"Why not?"

"It's too much," Jasmine explained, immediately placing the bracelet back into the black box it came from. "I shouldn't have something like this."

Noctis sighed on the other end of the line. "Jasmine, if you're really that uncomfortable, I can take it back. But it would mean a lot to me if you kept it."

Jasmine was torn.

On the one hand, she didn't want to offend Noctis. He'd obviously put a lot of thought and care into giving her the bracelet. But on the other hand, Jasmine had always been uncomfortable accepting presents – which probably stemmed from the gifts Vanitas used to give her back during their engagement.

'But…'

Jasmine said that she would try and do better with Noctis.

Which meant that she had to occasionally put her own reservations aside.

Even if it made her the tiniest bit uncomfortable.

"No, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm just not used to getting gifts like this."

"Don't worry about it, Jasmine," Noctis reassured her, sensing her hesitation. "I just…wanted you to have something special."

Jasmine was stunned by Noctis' care and generosity. She'd seen him be giving to his friends time and time again. But it was a different thing altogether to experience this herself, especially under these new circumstances.

"It's really sweet of you, Noctis," Jasmine said softly. "Thank you."

"About the second box…" Noctis began carefully. "Don't open that one yet."

Intrigued, Jasmine's eyebrow lifted as she eyed the second box. "Why not?"

"I want you to wait until I get back to Radiant Garden for that one. Can you do that?"

Jasmine stole another glance at the box, her curiosity reaching new heights. But even though she wanted to know what the other gift was, she wanted to respect Noctis' wishes. It was the least she could do.

"I won't touch it, promise."

"Good," Noctis cleared his throat. "I just wanted to make sure you got everything. I have a meeting with my father so I have to cut this short."

"But," Jasmine squeezed the phone tighter in her hand, "we still need to talk."

"I'll call you tonight. I promise," he reassured her. "Besides, I have to talk to him about coming back to Radiant Garden. I think it's time we got him out of here."

Defeated, Jasmine sighed. "Makes sense. Just call me later then."

After they both said their goodbyes, Jasmine was the first to hang up.

She felt guilty for not telling him about Ven right away.

On the one hand Jasmine knew she wasn't obligated in the past to talk about her time with Ven, but now things were different. They were technically dating now and knowing how Noctis was, he would want to know about her past.

Even if it was something Jasmine would've loved to take to the grave.

She tried to push those thoughts aside as she retreated to her room with the first box in hand.

Once she locked the door, she set her present down on her nightstand. Jasmine opened the drawer and pulled out the necklace she and Ventus shared. In that moment, as she stared at the charm, Jasmine replayed their entire "friendship" in her head from the very beginning, until it all went black on Traverse Town.

At first, she thought about Ven and his smile.

His pure, gorgeous smile.

And then, out of almost nowhere, Jasmine felt a few tears trickle down her face as she pictured Aqua.

Why would Ventus want anything with her?

Compared to Aqua, she was still just a child.

And even though everything she once felt with Ventus seemed real at times, she knew they were friends with benefits and best friends.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

A feeling she hadn't known for a while began to surface to the top and she tried to put Ventus out of her mind.

Jasmine, having not truly "felt" anything for weeks struggled with identifying the sensation.

It wasn't anger.

It wasn't frustration.

'Wait…' she mused, finally putting a label on the feeling.

It was sadness.

Then, as Jasmine's gaze shifted to Noctis' gift to her, she shifted her thoughts to the prince.

Noctis was everything (on paper) that Jasmine should have wanted in a boyfriend and then some.

He was handsome.

He was intelligent.

He was strong.

He cared about others.

Even without him being a prince, on paper, Noctis was the perfect guy.

And he wanted her with no one else in his mind.

She was the only one.

She would be an idiot to not try and work it out with Noctis.

Even so, Jasmine's heart ached for Ven.

For his sacrifice.

For his dedication to her.

For the love they seemed to share...

But Jasmine quickly reminded herself that it was only a platonic love they shared. He never wanted a relationship and she had to be honest. Still, she couldn't help but wonder what if and why he couldn't move on past Aqua, especially since she was steady in a relationship with Terra.

It didn't matter though.

The past was the past.

But even so, a familiar thought surfaced…a memory. A memory of the last time they'd kissed one another. And then, as she held up the necklace for the last time, Jasmine wiped her tears and said the words she'd had on her heart for so long.

"I wish…you had picked me from the start," she whispered. "I wish I had been good enough for you back then. But…I've got Noctis now."

With a heavy heart, Jasmine stowed the necklace away as if she were locking away her chapter with Ven forever. Jasmine continued to wipe her tears, but it was useless. The tears were streaming down her face at this point and the numbness that she'd been experiencing for weeks transformed into a soul-crushing pain and sadness.

But it wasn't just Ven that sent her down this spiral, but he was the trigger.

It was everything.

From losing her friends and Ven to losing her parents, to having been forced into hiding with SOLDIER, to breaking off things with Riku, to the difficult missions, and to that horrific night on Traverse Town.

Before she knew it, Jasmine was laying down on her side with her arms wrapped around her as she continued to sob.

Jasmine was always being strong for everyone around her.

She never wanted them to treat her like the sad case that she felt she was.

But Traverse Town changed her.

Sure, her dealings with Vanitas were terrible as well, but even then she felt as though she had more control over her life.

But now?

Jasmine was stuck.

She couldn't leave SOLDIER now. Where else would she go? Back to school and live like nothing ever happened? Never.

As much as it pained her to say this, Vanitas was right.

She was trapped.

The only thing she could do was ride out the SOLDIER train until she could find an opening, stick it to Tseng, and leave.

But Jasmine didn't know what future she could create for herself if she left.

None of it made sense to her anymore.

All she could do was take it day by day and hope for the best.

'It's not like I have a choice,' Jasmine lamented.

Author's Note: Happy Spooky Season guys! Hope you've all been well! Trying to keep it short here but wanted to thank you guys again for the views and alerts and faves. I really appreciate it!

rawrrbreee: Thank YOU for the consistent reviews! It's always a pleasure seeing your name pop up. I'm sorry to drag it out but you'll see the eventual Noctis x Jasmine conversation soon. I promise. Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Take care!

Alright guys, as per the norm, let me know what you think and I appreciate all the support! You guys are amazing and I'll see you soon. Bye guys!