It's a scary thing to grow up. You start to see the world for what it really is and hope that you don't fall too hard in the process.


Noctis sat in the living room, waiting not-so-patiently for the guest of honor to arrive.

Prompto, his blond-haired best friend, laughed at the prince's anxiousness. "Relax," he said calmly, looking behind Noctis to see the clock hanging on the wall behind him. "Tseng confirmed that she's headed towards Radiant Garden. She'll be here."

Still, the prince was on pins and needles. He stared at the large bouquet of red roses that sat on the table in front of them. They were for her.

Gladiolus, who was standing at the giant floor to ceiling window overlooking Radiant Garden, smiled. It was a gorgeous day in the city and a nice change in scenery from their recent traveling. He loved the outdoors but it was still nice to be back in familiar territory.

The only thing missing from this perfect picture was one member of their team.

"So as soon as she gets here," Gladiolus directed this question to Ignis, who was sitting in the living room on a laptop, "we're supposed to head down to headquarters, right?"

"Correct," Ignis said as he adjusted his glasses. "Tseng wants to do a debriefing and send us out on an assignment in a few days. But this one is local so I gather that it's nothing too taxing."

Noctis inhaled sharply and closed his eyes.

He watched his attacker fall backwards and scream in pain, tumbling down the stairs until he reached the bottom. He was still alive (Noctis could tell from the man's groaning) but he was definitely going to be out of commission.

Noctis looked to the source of the gunshot that saved his life and looked to the top of the stairs. There, standing by a large, floor to ceiling window was a woman. The light from the moon cast a soft light on her, helping Noctis make out her features. She was tall and slender, with tan/light brown skin, long black hair nearly reaching her waist and startling hazel/gold eyes.

The woman lowered her gun and stared at the prince. She pulled a finger to her lips as if to tell him to be quiet, giving him a playful smirk. Then she lifted her dress so that it didn't drag across the floor and she disappeared down a dark hallway just as quickly as she appeared.

That was the first and last time he'd seen Jasmine since she went off on her solo mission.

Noctis had no idea why she was in Niflheim – the country that had waged war against Noctis' kingdom. And it was even more confusing to see her walking almost freely in one of the most heavily guarded castle strongholds of the country. But he was thankful for her appearance because it saved his life.

Still, Noctis' mind was racing with thoughts and questions. Even though months had passed he still wasn't given any information on Jasmine's mission and why she was had to leave on her own. Tseng made sure to keep his team at bay by sending them off on their own assignments so he hadn't had too much time to think about it. And on top of that, he never told Prompto, Ignis, or Gladiolus about him seeing Jasmine that night. Judging from her behavior, he could tell that she wanted to stay hidden.

But ever since then, Noctis couldn't keep his mind off her. It was almost as if they were back to square one, trying to figure each other out and this troubled Noctis.

He opened his eyes and stared at the flowers again, remembering the conversation they had the night before she left.

Noctis knew what he wanted. He just needed to know if she was as ready as he was.


Sora, Tidus and Riku collapsed to the floor of the gym, all three boys panting heavily after their workout.

"Okay," Sora breathed heavily, sweat dripping down his face. "I think we can call it quits for the day."

Riku pulled his hair out of his face just for a shadow to fall over him. He looked up and saw his teacher hovering over him, a wide grin from ear to ear.

"Good job, fellas!" Yuffie said cheerfully.

Tidus and Sora stole a glance at each other. Even though Yuffie, their martial arts instructor, had sparred with all three boys for quite some time, she didn't look exhausted or tired in the slightest. In fact, it looked like she hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Why aren't you tired?" Sora asked after he fell back on the floor, his bright blue eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Yuffie laughed and walked around the perimeters of the sparring ring. "C'mon guys. I'm a 1st Class member of SOLDIER, I own this studio so I've got tons of stamina, and I'm just an overall kick ass ninja. I can go all day if I want!"

Sora groaned out loud. Even though they had been training with Yuffie for months, they all still had a long way to go before they reached a tenth of her level.

"Don't kill them, Yuffie," Zack teased as he leaned on the velvet ropes of the ring. He turned to his right and spoke to Tifa. "You should've sparred against them. Yuffie's not cutting them any slack."

Tifa laughed and brushed her long, dark brown hair over her shoulder. "Neither would I," she admitted. "But then again, Yuffie always was a bit more cutthroat than the rest of us."

Zack agreed with her. "True. At least with the new people anyway."

Tidus wiped the sweat from his brow and grumbled. "Man, how did Jasmine do this all the time? We come here twice a week and we keep getting our butts handed to us."

Yuffie crossed her arms over her chest and sat on the floor near the boys, sitting with her legs crossed. "Jasmine had different training," she explained with a smile. "Plus she's got SOLDIER in her blood. The kid was built for this if I'm bein' honest."

Riku sighed heavily. It had been five months since Jasmine left the islands for her mission. Technically speaking, she was supposed to be back weeks ago but according to Tifa, her mission had been extended. Needless to say, Riku was anxiously waiting for her to return. He knew that she could take care of herself (she'd done it for so long) but he wouldn't feel better until he knew she was back on the islands.

"By the way guys," Tifa announced, "Jasmine's on her way back to Radiant Garden. I just got word from the boss today."

Sora, Riku and Tidus lit up upon hearing the news. Tidus and Sora broke out into Cheshire cat grins while Riku sat there in disbelief.

"Yup!" Yuffie beamed. "Our girl is coming home."

"Tomorrow I'm having a surprise party for her at Seventh Heaven on the Destiny Islands," Tifa continued, smiling herself. "I hope that you'll all be able to come."

"We'll be there!" Sora yelled. He hopped out the ring with ease and searched his gym bag for his cell phone to send out a mass text message to their other friends. "When does she get in?"

"Some time later on tonight or tomorrow morning," Zack replied. "We're just waiting to hear from Jasmine."

"We're getting the party all set up now," Tifa continued, trying her best to contain her excitement. After all this time, her daughter would be back soon.

All she had to do was wait.


Ventus looked at the body lying next to him in bed covered by sheets. He chuckled as he reached for his glasses on his nightstand, slipping them on his face with ease.

"You keep giving Noctis reasons to hate me," he laughed. "I'm sure he's wondering where his partner is."

Jasmine emerged from the sheets, her black hair a wild, disheveled mess. She wiped her darkly lined hazel eyes, smearing a bit of the leftover makeup on her skin and glanced at the clock hanging on Ventus' wall in front of them.

"He waited five months," Jasmine said with a yawn. "He can wait another day. Besides," a smirk tugged at the corners of her lips, "you live in the same apartment building a few floors down. I'm not far away. Plus, you know he'll give me hell if he knows you live here too. It'll be like Big Brother."

Ventus kicked off his covers and hopped out of bed, reaching for a tee shirt that he tossed aside a few hours ago. "He'll never let you come over if he knew what we've been doing all day."

Jasmine rolled her eyes while a light blush rose to her cheeks.

In truth, she'd arrived on Radiant Garden earlier in the morning than Tseng had predicted. But she was still coming off the high and adrenaline of the mission so she decided to spend what would be some of her last free moments with the one person who understood her best.

Jasmine and Ventus continued their "affairs" after their last trip to Agrabah while still maintaining their close friendship. And while they occasionally met up for various missions, they were questioned by onlookers about their relationship. But both Jasmine and Ventus were firm in staying true to their friendship, even if there was something extra there that wasn't there before.

"Noctis doesn't scare me," Jasmine stated plainly as she scratched the back of her head. "I just don't want to weird him out anymore. Besides, we're still just friends."

"He definitely won't get it," Ventus said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But that doesn't matter. As long as you and I are happy, nothing else matters."

Jasmine adjusted the strap of her tank top when it slipped off her shoulder. She stared at her hands, closely looking at the few cuts and callouses that had started to form from when she started her solo journey. Closing her eyes, Jasmine's mind was bombarded with memories from her trip.

She saw lots of fighting, so many exotic, faraway lands she almost couldn't believe were real, friends she made along the way, friends she lost along the way, blood, and a dark, foreboding message that brought her back to why she was in SOLDIER in the first place – the reason why she couldn't afford to give up or quit fighting.

"It took almost everything I have in me to come back here," Jasmine told Ventus, sounding as if she were ashamed.

Ventus' smile vanished as he saw the pain and turmoil written on her face. He, like the other members of SOLDIER, had almost no idea as to why Jasmine left on her own. But knowing that she did go off alone, Ventus understood that this mission was greater than he probably or anyone else could have realized. And for her to have kept this entire thing a secret? Ventus knew that it must have been eating Jasmine alive.

He took a seat next to her in his bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to console her. He knew full well that he couldn't ask her what was troubling her, but the least he could do as a friend was try to be there for her in the best – and only – way that he could.

"I know," he whispered.

"It would have been so easy to have just run away," Jasmine continued. "But…" she trailed off, thinking of Master Xehanort. "Running away wouldn't have solved anything. It would have just bought me a little more time to somewhat enjoy life. I have to help stop this. Some way. Some how."

Ventus gave her shoulders a squeeze. "But you've got help," he reminded her gently. "As much as I know you want to do this alone, you have to let us help you. We know you want to save everyone, but you deserve happiness too."

He watched Jasmine shut down at the mention of her happiness and gave her a slight shake to keep her from retreating into herself.

"Hey," he called out to her, turning her face so that she could meet his gaze. "I've got you. We've got you. Don't you ever forget that. All you need to do is tell us when you're ready, and we're good to go."

Jasmine nodded before she tore her eyes away from Ventus' and looked out the window. The sun was setting now which meant that the day was coming to an end. The next time she awoke, she knew she would hit the ground running.

She envisioned Master Xehanort and the journal pages, as well as Vanitas' warning.

Clenching her fist and swallowing her fears, she suppressed her feelings of anxiety. "I'm ready."


Author's Note: It's been a long time guys but I'm happy to announce that the third story is here! I know it's been a really long time but I finally have everything I need to get this story going and keep it going.

I know this was a really short chapter but I hope you guys like it. Leave a review to tell me what you all think/thought and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

Take care all!