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J u l i a
Chapter Six
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R e a s o n F o r B e i n g H e r e
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"Oh no! P-p-please! S-stop it!"

"No you don't! You're not getting away from me this time!"

Squall and Rinoa watched the couple across from them lose their selves in what appeared to be a tickle war. Irvine laughed uproariously and nearly fell off the chair he was sitting on. Selphie grinned from ear to ear and continued to tickle her helpless boyfriend mercilessly.

The four of them all decided to meet for lunch the day before at a seemingly, popular outdoors cafe just outside Esthar Palace's perimeters. Curtesy of Esthar's President and Squall's father Laguna, they were able to enjoy free meals and each other's company at no cost. Almost completely against their will, Squall and Irvine were lead all over Esthar by their girlfriends. In just a short a time, they became quite familiar with Esthar City and it's locals, going from clothing store to clothing store, shoe store to shoe store, mall to mall, etc., etc.,. The boys didn't seem to catch a break, much less a breath, until they happened by a weopons shop. Instantanuosly, the boys sought their safe haven within the doors of the small store.

To say the least, Selphie was not Miss Bubbling Sunshine when Irvine came back to her. Tickling him seemed sufficient punishment enough for abandoning Selphie once he returned to her side. Rinoa laughed and enjoyed watching their childish antics, while Squall could only stare vacantly at the two. He hoped that the couple would stop soon, for they were drawing unwanted attention at their selves.

"I've suddenly lost my appetite," Squall mumbled quietly.

Rinoa turned to him and tilted her head. "But I thought you liked Balamb Fish? It may be imported, but it still tastes like home." Rinoa stabbed at a piece of Squall's fish and shrimp bites and popped it into her mouth. "It's great! You can't tell the difference."

"It's not the fish." He directed a scowl at the couple across from him.

She followed his gaze and laughed. "I think it's sweet. Besides they did come here to enjoy their selves afterall. Being promoted to Instructor can't be at all that fun."

At this Selphie stopped her assault on Irvine, who was now gasping for much needed air, and took offense. "Instructing is too fun! We get to play games, watch really cool movies . . . ." Selphie drew in a quick breath at the glare she received from Squall and quickly covered herself up with: "Of course, it's all for educational purposes! We also draw blueprints of future, possible airships!" And finished with: "The kids and I have oodles and oodles of fun! Teaching is great!"

Rinoa laughed at Selphie's ever optimistic attitude, then continued to finish her lunch.

"Selphie's right. Instructing can be pretty exciting once you get into it, you know? Besides, there's a lot of cuties signing in to my classes. I can't seem to get enough of them. Ow!"

Irvine poked Selphie in the side, while at the same time, he rubbed his bruising bicep with his free hand. She squeaked and glared at her boyfriend.

"Why're you giving me that look for? I didn't do anything wrong! Where's the trust?"

Selphie mulled this over and looked decidely uncomfortable as she shifted in her sit. She suddenly put her head in her hands and began to bawl.

"You're right! I'm so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry!! I'm such a--a terrible girlfriend!" Throwing her arms around a completely stunned Irvine, Selphie sniffled and hiccuped. "Will you ever forgive me!?"

At a complete loss for words, Irvine nodded his head almost frantically. Then when she showed no signs of stopping, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered soothing words into her ear.

"Shh . . . . There, there . . . ."

Finally, she looked up, grabbed the sides of his face, and kissed his lips passionately.

Squall and Rinoa blinked, completely thrown off from Selphie's sudden outburst.

"Well. Hmm. Squall?" Rinoa cast an uneasy glance in her boyfriend's direction. To find he was no longer there. She batted her brown eyes in confusion.

"Way ahead of you."

Rinoa turned to the sound of his voice and smiled. Squall had already risen from his seat and was now holding out a hand for her. She gladly accepted it and rose out of her chair.

"Think they'll be okay?" She asked once they left their friends behind.

Squall grunted in reply and continued in the direction of their final destination--Esthar Palace. Thankfully there were teleportation carriers everywhere in Esthar that took their shopping bags back to their respectful rooms, that way no one would have to carry anything heavy heading back. How convenient their technology was these days.

The two were quiet on their way back to the Palace. Happy to be finally heading back to rest for the remainder of the afternoon. Out of all the days they had been here in Esthar, this day had to be the most eventful of all.

Rinoa sighed contently and then paused as she remembered something important.

Squall stopped at the sudden resistence on his right arm. "Rin?'

Rinoa's eyes widened. "Squall! We forgot about your appointment! I can't believe we forgot!"

Squall cast his eyes to the ground. His appointment? Oh right. His daily check up with Odine. But . . . .

"I'm not going," was Squall's reply.

Rinoa looked almost pleadingly at him. "But you must! You have to!"

Squall growled and stared right into her eyes. "Why!? Why do I have to go? All I do is sit there while that mad man back there sticks electrodes all over my body for his own personal enjoyment!"

"But, Squall, you're memories . . . ."

"It's stupid! This whole thing is just so stupid!" He freed himself from her hold on him and began walking away. Rinoa's next words stopped him from going futher.

"S-stupid? Is what we have stupid then? Because if it is, then . . . then . . . . Damn it, Squall! I'm just so damn worried about you is all. Not once have you told me anything about what happened to you. I don't know what it is, but you just seem different somehow. Somehow, all this seemed to change you over night! No one changes that fast in just short a time."

Squall said nothing and continued to stare off into space.

Rinoa now stood in front of him, trying to read his eyes. "Won't you at least tell me?"

Squall laughed coldly. Rinoa frowned. "Tell you? How can I tell you anything when I don't even understand myself." She backed away, tears forming in her eyes. "I told you and everyone else that I remembered everything. But now that I do, there's just all this confusion with what's going on around me that it's so damn frustrating! Then there's my father, Ellone, and everyone breathing down my back, it's hardly bearable!"

Rinoa looked at the ground, then Esthar's scenery. It held so much beauty to her before. Now it just appeared to be nothing more than floating projectiles and blocks, big and small. Where'd all that beauty go? Was she just seeing things? She returned her gaze to Squall's angry and tormented face.

He now gazed meaningfully into her eyes.

"I just want this all to end and go home." He drew her into his embrace and caressed her hair. "All I want to do is go home . . . ."

Rinoa sniffed and pulled back in his arms just to where she could look into his eyes. Resting her forehead against his own, she smiled with only a hint of sadness in it.

"Yeah . . . . Let's go home."

* * *

"Wow . . . ."

"I know."

"Just . . . wow . . . ."

Lane sighed and tugged on his sister's arm. "Yes, I know. So let's just go already."

"Okay . . . . Wow."

Growing impatient, Lane grabbed his dazed sister by the collar of her uniform and dragged her towards the cafeteria. Once there, the corner's of Lane's lips turned down at the corners at sight of the long line ahead of them.

"See what you did? Now we have to wait."

"Oh man! I was so awesome today! Did you see me!? I kicked major aff umph omph mmmm!?"

Wandering students stared at the twins oddly as they stood in line. Lane chose to ignore everyone and kept his hand firmly over his sister's mouth. Only until she quieted down did he only chose to release her. That, however, was his mistake.

"That T-Rexor had nothing on me! Damn!" She lift her arm and flexed her muscles. "I never new I had such strength!"

Embarrassed, Lane covered her mouth once again and inwardly sighed. Someone in back of him accidently bounced into him, making him lose his footing and his hold on his sister at the same time.

"Damn! Late again! I'm sorry man. Didn't mean that!"

Having quickly regained both his footing and his hold, Lane glanced over his shoulder to the source of the voice. He spared small smile.

"It's alright, Instructor. No harm done."

Zell looked up and beamed. "Hey Lane! How's it going?"

"All right, I suppose," he replied, chosing to let go of his sister.

Zell looked around Lane to see his twin gasping for air. "Oh! And Taeon too. Hey Tae!"

Taeon glanced back and practically lit the room with her smile. "Instructor Zell!" She lept into his arms and pulled him into her own little dance.

Zell flushed. "Err . . . . Nice to see you too? Heh."

Realizing what she did, Taeon pulled back immediately and looked around to make sure no body else witnessed that. Seeing it was safe, Taeon smiled once again. "Sorry, Instructor! I'm just really hyped up right now!" She hopped from foot to foot.

Zell chuckled. "Yeah? I can see that. So what's up?"

Taeon must've not heard him because she began to dance merrily around her brother. Lane rolled his eyes and began to explain to the now dumbfound instructor.

"Taeon Limit Breaked today while we were training. She is now one of two--the other being you--to achieve Burning Rave. Which, as you can see, has gotten her pretty . . . well . . . pretty excited."

Zell's eyes widened in surprised, then grabbed Taeon in a bone crushing hug. "Man, that's awesome! To think one of my students learned that combo on their own. I'm real proud of you."

Having gotten the appreciation of her instructor, Taeon became even more excited and jumped up in down. "Whoo-hoo!"

"Wow. That's quite an accomplishment. Most of my students are still learning the Mach Kick technique, but not one of the four ultimate combos! That's amazing! Hey, you have her Battle Meter? I gotta check this out!"

Lane grabbed Taeon's right arm and hissed at her to keep still for a moment--which she didn't--and unstrapped her Battle Meter from her bobbing wrist. He released her and shot her an exasperated look before handing Zell her Battle Meter.

Zell turned it on and then blinked his eyes in astonishment. "This is crazy cool! Hey, Taeon!"

Taeon kept on bouncing and dancing herself home to insanity.

"Tae? Taeon!"

Keep on dancing. Not listening. And now singing?

"TAEON!!"

Taeon stopped and turned to her brother. "What do you want!? Geez, you didn't have to yell. I mean, come on, people are staring at us."

Lane narrowed his eyes. Zell looked at the two of them and then burst out laughing.

"Damn it, Tae! I kept on calling you, but you didn't hear me. If you could just keep quiet for one damn minute, I think you should hear what Zell has to say!"

Taeon blinked at her brother. "Whoa." Kept on blinking.

Zell, glanced uneasily between the two and then settled his gaze on Taeon. "Hey."

Taeon slowly turned her head, though her gaze seemed unwilling to moved with her head. Finally, her blue gaze settled on her instructor. "Uh, yeah?"

Zell grinned. "Just wanted to ask if maybe you could do a demonstration during class today. You know, show those slackers how it's done."

Both Lane and Taeon stared at him. "Are you serious?"

Zell nodded.

Taeon looked at the ground and didn't move. Zell began to think that maybe he said something wrong, until . . . .

"Are you kidding me!? I'd LOVE to!!"

Taeon grabbed the nearest person--her brother--and began to dance all over again.

"Wow, so many things have been happening lately! First the girl wakes up--we still don't know her name, because, well, she hasn't told us yet--, I Limit Break, and now I get to demonstrate the Burning Rave technique in class!" She ended that with another: "Wow!"

Lane finally gave in and cracked a smile. He was proud of her. Really, he was. But did she have to do that? Bounce all over the damn place?

Zell smiled. "Great! I'm looking forward to it." He looked over Lane's shoulder and spotted one of his friends. "Quistis! Over here!"

Lane and Taeon turned in time to see a blond beauty begin walking toward their spot in line. On her arms, she balanced two trays. One carried a simple plate of salad and juice, while the other contained . . . .

Zell's mouth hung open.

"Hello Zell. Ahem," Quistis reached up to push Zell's open mouth closed.

"I-is that . . . . Are those . . . ?"

The twins exchanged looks of complete confusion.

Quistis smiled and winked.

"No way!! You're, like, my best friend ever! They're for me of course." Zell glanced longingly at the other tray. "Please say they're for me . . . ."

Quistis laughed and handed the other tray, which happened to be piled with Zell's ultimate, most favorite food, to him.

"Hotdogs! Booya!" The blond, martial artists, lept into the air with a tight fist and took the tray of food almost greedily.

Quistis turned to leave, all the while laughing merrily at Zell's excitement over hotdogs.

"Yeah, I'd figured you'd be late getting here, so I grabbed that for you. Those were the very last ones, too. My treat, by the way, so you don't have to pay me back. Just enjoy!" She waved good-bye and was on her way.

Zell sniffled and rubbed his eyes. "Man, I have so many great friends!"

Taeon smiled and decided to poke some fun.

"Aww . . . . Is Mister Zelly-Welly . . . crying?"

Zell immediately straightened. "Who's crying?" He asked sternly.

Taeon laughed. "No one!"

Zell grinned and reached up to ruffle her short, multi-colored locks. "Hah! Thought so. Well, I'm going to take off. Man, these sure do smell delicious! Later!" That said, he marched off happily with his newly acquired hotdogs.

"Heh heh. He hasn't changed."

Both Lane and Taeon looked next to them to find another blond standing beside them. Only he was taller, more broad in the shoulders, his hair shorter, green eyes, and a very distinctive scar running across the bridge of his nose. Taeon thought that if it weren't for the bone chilling look to his eyes, she'd find him a rather handsome looking young man. Both were startled to find him there. Was he standing there the whole time? Lane frowned. Taeon gaped.

This new aquintance of theirs smirked and gently pushed Taeon's gaping mouth closed--much like what Quistis did for Zell.

"Nice to meet you, too."

Mentally shaking herself out of her stupor, Taeon asked: "Who are you?"

Retrieving his hand, the man smirked once again. "Almasy."

Lane's eyes narrowed after hearing that name. Why'd it sound so familiar?

"Oh yeah? Name's Michaels! Nice to meet you!" Taeon enthusiastically stretched out her hand. The man took what was offered and they shook hands firmly.

"You got a nice grip there, Michaels."

Taeon's gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes. "Yeah . . . ?" She didn't know what it was, but something about this man enthralled her senses.

Lane raised an eyebrow at the two. What the . . . ?

"NOT WORKING."

Startled, Lane turned at the sound of this new voice. His eyes meet one of crimson. Crimson eyes . . . . He shook his head. No. You're not doing that again. Looking back at this new comer, he took in the rest of the woman's--whom was standing somewhat stiffly before him--appearance. The woman was apparently albino, with short, silver hair, pale, narrow face and an eyepatch. Even though it was rude of him, Lane's gaze kept drifting over to the black eyepatch. Did she really lose an eye?

The tall, blond man, dragged his eyes away from Taeon and studied the new comer. He nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Fuujin."

"Why'd you have to walk fast, ya know?"

The silver-haired woman glared at this other new comer and walked, or rather 'marched,' the rest of the way to a big, muscle-bound man with dark skin and short, wavy, black hair. The man looked frightened at her coming his way and looked all around for a way to escape. He gave up looking and just waited for the old, traditional . . . .

"RAGE!"

"OUCH!!"

. . . Kick to the shins.

Taeon looked from the dark man clutching his bruised shin and back up to the blond man. He was now laughing at the dark man's exspense. Then he looked back down at her, with that hint of laughter still in his green eyes.

"Sorry." He straighened and gestured to the two new comers. "Those two are my friends Fuujin and Raijin. Brother and Sister. The three of us here make up the Disciplinary Commitee."

The twins did a double take at that last bit of info. Taeon didn't get far and, after realizing the cause of that, pulled back her hand from the other man's grip. He let her go without any hesitation.

"Y-You're the . . . the Disciplinary Commitee!?" Taeon squeaked.

The man smirked once again and did a mock bow. "At your service."

Lane was in awe. Taeon was shocked.

"DUTY."

Seifer glance back to his female companion and frowned. "Right. My duty." He looked back at the twins. "Are you the one that's been causing all the noise? We've been getting various reports of such a disturbance in this area."

Taeon slowly blinked her eyes.

"Right. Well, here's this . . . ." He quickly jogged something down on a sticky note and then tried handing it to Taeon. Seeing that she was still in her shocked state of mind, the blond man posted the sticky note on her forehead. Then with a quick farewell, he was gone.

Lane tapped his twin's shoulder. "Tae? Are you alright?"

All he received was silence.

He tried again. "Uh, Taeon? You there?" He lightly rapped his knuckles against her skull.

The sticky note fell off her forehead, which she surprising caught without even looking and read it. Her shoulders visibly stiffened.

Lane cocked his head to the side. "What's it say?"

"D--," Taeon began. "D-d-d-d-d--"

Lane frowned and retrieved the note from his sister's numb fingertips. His eyes narrowed.

"Detention?" Lane looked at his sister's back and noticed that it was shaking rather badly. "Hey, it's just detention. You've had detention before, so you know how it goes." He shrugged it off, as if it were no problem. And it wasn't. For him anyway, as he wasn't the one who just received detention.

Her shaking stopped suddenly and she screamed. "That bastard!"

Lane couldn't believe she was this upset over something as little as a detention slip, but shrugged her off anyway. He looked forward and realized there was a very large gap between him and the line.

"Hey Tae! The line moved up. Let's hurry, get our lunch and go to the infirmary. Tae?"

Lane looked back, but found his sister no where in sight. "Where did she . . . ?" Lane looked around but didn't see her anywhere. "Hmph. Oh well . . . ." He closed the gap and waited to get his lunch.

- - -

Yuffie looked up from her hands to the sound of a 'swoosh'. She narrowed her eyes at the boy standing in the weird, transittal doorway. Balanced on his arms were two trays of food, which smelled utterly delicious to her from where she sat.

The boy entered and came around her bed to sit at the little stool at her bedside. "Hi," he greeted and settled the extra tray on her lap. He mumbled a quick apology when his hand accidently bumped into her arm and turned to his food.

She studied him for which seemed like hours before asking: "What's your name?" She quickly covered her mouth and coughed. Her voice was still very hoarse from the lack of speech, so it hurt--and itched like crazy--when she spoke.

Lane reached over and gently patted her back. Yuffie whispered a hoarse "thanks."

Seeing that she was going to be alright, Lane smiled. "My name's Michaels. Lane Michaels."

The friendly smile on his face, suddenly made Yuffie want to smile too--which she did then later regretted. She winced and licked her chapped lips. "Ow . . . ." She attempted to smile again, saying, "Who knew smiling would hurt so much?"

Lane chuckled. "Only if ones lips are as chapped as yours."

Yuffie laughed, then began coughing again.

"Are you okay?" Lane watched her with concern as she sat there wheezing. He grab her juice bottle off the tray and stuck a straw through the aluminiated top. Handing it to her, he said, "Here. This should help."

Yuffie grabbed the bottle and sipped the juice through the straw. She soon sighed and leaned back. "Thanks. I really needed that."

"No prob." Lane sat back and continued eating his meal. Then as if remembering something, he said, "Oh yeah!" He sat up and reached in his back pocket of his pants and retreived something small, round and long. He handed the acquired object to her. "That's my sisters. I don't think she would mind you having it. You need it more than she does anyway."

Yuffie picked up the round object and realized it was a small tube of clear lip gloss. She showed her appreciation by clutching it in her hands and giving him a tiny smile of gratitude.

Lane smiled back. "So what's your name?"

Yuffie looked down at her hands.

"I mean, you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. Sorry."

"No. It's alright." She looked up and grinned at him. "Yuffie. My name's Yuffie Kisaragi. I'm the greatest ninja in the world!" She took on a saddened expression. "At least, I was anyway."

Lane studied her for a minute before slowly returning to his food. I wonder what's wrong with her? Why does she sound so depressed?

"Hey . . . ."

"Oh! I see that she's up already. Hello Lane."

Lane looked up and greeted Doctor Kadowaki with a smile. "Hi."

"So where's your tail?" She looked around for this female counterpart and looked askance.

"I don't know. She just ran off without telling me anything, so I came by myself."

"Ah. Well, no matter. Oh, I see you got our friend here some lunch? Very considerate of you." The doctor came around and began her daily inspection of the girl.

Yuffie pulled back, nearly tipping her tray over on to the floor.

"Whoa. A bit jumpy, eh? I'm Doctor Kadowaki. If you'll let me, I'd like to do my daily routine of checking your stats."

Yuffie scrutinized the older woman before deeming her trustworthy. She held out her arm for the doctor to take a pulse and went along with everything else she did in her check up.

After she was done, Kadowaki straightened up. "Well, Miss . . . ?"

"Yuffie."

Kadowaki smiled. "Miss Yuffie. You are completely healthy! How's your throat, dear?"

Yuffie reached up and touched her throat. "Hurts like hell."

Kadowaki laughed. "I would think so, after all this time. You have been asleep for quite a while. It won't be long before the pain goes away. Drinking plenty of fluids always helps."

Yuffie frowned. "How long was I out? And where is this place? What happened to me?"

Kadowaki went around the bed, so that she was now standing next to Lane. "Well, hun, I'd say you've been out for about a week now. You're currently at the infirmary here at Balamb Garden, which is located on the Balamb Islands. As for what happened to you, I just don't have a clue." She patted Lane's shoulder firmly. "Maybe this boy here could help you out a bit on that subject. Lane?"

Lane looked up at the doctor. "Yes?"

"Take care of her for me. I have some things to finish up back in the office. If something comes up, you know where to find me. Okay?"

Lane nodded and watched the doctor exit the room.

". . . So, how . . . ?"

Lane turned back to the girl sitting up on the cot.

Yuffie looked at him with intense, gray eyes.

He told her what he knew. How he found her, rescued her and visited daily with his sister to make sure she was going to be alright. At the end of his short story, he found Yuffie gazing at him with child-like wonder in her eyes.

"I . . . fell out . . . of the s-sky?" If there were a comic book, you'd see question marks popping up all around Yuffie's head, for she was that confused.

Lane nodded slowly. ". . . Right out of the sky . . . and into the ocean."

Yuffie blinked her eyes. "And you . . . rescued me?"

He again nodded slowly.

Yuffie smiled for a brief moment then stared at her hands on her lap. "Um . . . Thank you." If it weren't for him, she'd be dead by now. Both here . . . and there. She would've never been able to get Leon back into their own world then. She would never been able to see her friend, much less, talk to him. Even if it were for the last. But how is this? This is supposed to be a dream, right? Then why is everything here so . . . so tangible? Even the people here. They act, moved and appeared to think like real people. How could this be . . . ?

Lane watched the expressions on Yuffie's faced and found them rather amusing in a way. One minute her eyebrows would draw together in contemplation, then in the next they would raise as if she pieced together and solved a very difficult puzzle. Yes, he found that watching her was very amusing indeed.

"Uh, Yuffie? Are you okay?"

Yuffie turned to him with a dazed expression. "Huh?" She asked stupidly.

Lane chuckled softly. Stupidity aside, he asked again, "Are you okay?"

Yuffie shook her head, "No . . . No, I mean yes. I'm okay. Thanks."

"Where'd you come from anyway? Maybe you can help me prove my sister wrong about my theory.

Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "What theory, might I ask, is that?"

Lane smiled a bit. "It really is stupid when you think about it. But seeing you here makes me think otherwise."

Yuffie waited.

"This is crazy, but are you from another world? I mean, tell me, could it be possible?" Lane looked hopeful, but at the same time dreaded the answer. Why? He didn't really know. So he just waited for Yuffie's answer.

The girl in question, however, was at a lost for words. What could she say? Seriously. What can she say? Wasn't she supposed to honor the World Order? But what did that have to do with things in this place? It was a dream . . . right? Nothing more than a dream. She only came to find one person and that person was Leon. If she could just find and talk to him, maybe then they could go home. And what did they call this place? Balamb Garden? . . . Why'd that sound so familiar?


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Wahoo! This was a quick update AND it was longer. A lot longer. I think I was half asleep when I wrote this chapter, but for some odd reason, it was a hell of a lot better than the last. Sorry about that. Leaving you all with a crappy chapter last update. Anyway, I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas. I certainly did (^^). Oh yeah, remember that mini-shrine to FF8 I did to help you all out and stuff? Well, I updated that too. You can now see drawings I did of my characters, Taeon, Lane and Saori; I'll do one of Dion later. There's also now a mailinglist, if you'd like to join it. That way I'll keep you up to date with my fic. You can check them out here: http://ff8.amekaze.net/. I hope you like the drawings! Anyway, thanks for your reveiws and have a great New Year!

- - N a t s u

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Julia the piano score NOT the story, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy characters, settings and anything/everything, EXCEPT FOR the plot and storyline of THIS PARTICULAR STORY/FANFICTION TITLED 'JULIA', is and copyrighted to their respectful owners of Squaresoft, Square-Enix, Nobou Uematsu, Disney and any other who have any rightful claim. Original characters, that may come into play, settings, plot, storyline and this story/fanfiction is copyright and claimed by J.Watson aka Natsu/Natsumi.