Carolyn's Comments:

Mood: Calm

Rant: Can anyone tell me how to post links in chapters? I want to post a link to the picture of Katie, Caitlin, and me cosplaying, but for some reason, fanfiction's upload thing is being a pain about it, so some advice would be MUCH appreciated. I also have an interesting story to tell about my adventures (or should I say, MISadventures) at Acen (the anime convention). We were sitting in the artist alley. It had been a long day of shopping and we were all sitting against the wall with our bags of swag. We had bought TONS of art from the excellent artists who had set up shop there, and we were now taking a break. I was just looking over my 'Ceres: The Celestial Legend' DVD box, when my stomach growled loudly. We were all starved. I mean REALLY starved. We hadn't eaten anything all DAY. The lounge with all the snacks was too far away for our tired little feet. (It was all the way on the other side of the building). Caitlin went off to see if she could beg some pocky (a tasty Japanese snack) from someone. Katie and me were left to draw in our sketchbooks and listen to our stomachs growl. At that moment, some artists at the table next to us announced to everyone that they had ordered WAY too much Chinese food. They were giving away their leftovers! My stomach danced a jig of joy. Needless to say, Katie and me were the first ones up there. In fact, hardly anyone else came up, so more for us! Caitlin came back with no pocky, looking tired, depressed, and most of all, HUNGRY. She saw Katie and me munching happily on dinner. After much pleading, we laughed and gave her some food. I especially loved the sweet and sour chicken… I will forever be grateful to the artists who gave us some dinner that day. Okay, enough of my rant. I'll tell you some more stories about the con later. Enjoy the chappie.

That night, Cedric waited by the balcony; he leaned back lazily against the railing. He clutched his keyblade in his left hand. He hoped that Tira would bring her own sword; he had forgotten to get an extra one from the weapons room.

He wondered why Tira had chosen such an odd spot for the lesson. This is where he had kissed Mia yesterday. He didn't want to be here; it reminded him of the stupid move he had made.

When he had spotted Mia in the hallway, he had wanted to apologize. After Cronos's pep talk, he had made up his mind to say he was sorry about what had happened, but when he had actually seen her, he had seen the panic in her eyes. At that moment, all his courage had fled him. He had walked right on by.

At that moment, he heard footsteps. The grip on his sword tightened instinctively, but it relaxed when he realized it was Tira. To his relief, she had brought her own blade. He straightened up.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded in response. He held his sword in both hands in front of him. "Okay, first I'm going to teach you how to parry, alright?"

Tira nodded again. Cedric stepped back slightly as she drew her sword. "Alright," He said, "Come and try to hit me."

Tira ran at him, and gave her sword a weak swing. Cedric held up his sword, stopping Tira's blade easily. He then swung his sword in a circle motion. He flipped her sword up into the air, where it clattered to the side. He smiled and pointed his blade playfully at her throat. "You're dead, Tira."

She picked up her sword. As she did so, Cedric instructed her. "You have to expect things like that. You have to keep your grip on the sword."

"Alright," Tira said, "I'll try that again. Let's see if you can knock it out of my hands this time!" She swung her blade again. This time it was more forceful that her first swipe. It struck Cedric's blade. He turned his sword in a circular motion once again, but this time Tira held on tight. She jumped back and out of his blade's range.

"You catch on quick." Cedric said nodding with approval. She grinned. "You knew to step back and out of the blade's path. Otherwise, I would've been free to stab you in the stomach."

Tira gripped her sword tightly in both hands. "I'm not a fool. Teach me more blocks."

For the next couple of hours, the two of them practiced different kinds of parries. They also trained with footwork, dodging, and ducking. At one point, when Cedric was teaching her how to jump over an opponent's blade when they swing at your legs, Tira wasn't quick enough. Cedric stopped his sword right next to her legs. He smiled and tapped her with his sword. "You're legs are gone. So far you've lost both your arms, an eye, your legs, and your nose." He joked, "And yet you haven't given up. Remarkable."

Tira laughed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. In reality, Cedric had been a very careful teacher. He had always been in complete control of his blade; always stopping it before it came close to causing any damage.

"Alright," Tira breathed. It was clear she was exhausted, "You've taught me how to defend and dodge, now teach me how to attack."

Cedric smiled and shook his head. "Tomorrow. It's clear that you're tired, and I'm growing weary myself." He leaned against the balcony railing again. Tira did the same.

"You're very skilled with a blade," Cedric commented, "Are you sure you haven't used one before?"

"Well, once when I was younger." Tira said shrugging, "But I just swung it around, I had no clue what I was doing. I accidentally cut myself on the hand with it." She held up her right hand. A very thin, faint scar was visible on the back.

Tira tilted her head back. She looked up past the ceiling, and out at the open sky. It was so peaceful. Suddenly Carolyn's words snapped through her mind, jerking her back to reality.

Go for it.

"Hey, Cedric?" Tira asked. She had to clear something up with him before she could even try. "Do you..." She sighed. Her eyes drifted to the side. "Do you like Mia?"

"Eh?" Cedric said spinning around. His eyes were shocked and a blush was already beginning to form.

"Do you like her?" Tira asked.

Cedric was stunned. All day he'd been focused on following Cronos's advice. He'd thought these lessons would take his mind off Mia, now they were throwing it back in his face. "Well...I don't...I mean..."

"Be more decisive!" Tira said firmly, "How is anyone going to know what you're thinking if you keep it bottled up like that?"

"Okay! Okay!" Cedric said defensively. "I do like her... I mean... I can't help it." His eyes sort of drifted off as he spoke. "She's very pretty, she's nice, my stomach goes into knots every time I see her. I really do love her." He smiled sort of sadly. "Stupid, huh? I haven't got a chance; she loves Riku. Not me. Never me. But...she's still nice to think about I guess."

"C-Cedric..." Tira whispered. She was staring at him in a new viewpoint now. "You...You shouldn't think like that..."

"It's the truth." Cedric sighed. "Mia's shown that to me many times, like when-"

"Like last night when you kissed her and she slapped you." Tira said flatly.

Cedric mouth literally dropped. "W-What?! You saw?! You spied on me?!"

"I wasn't spying," Tira snapped. "I live here. I take walks around there every night. I came by and saw you talking. I was just about to leave when I saw you kiss her and she slapped you."

Cedric felt his face redden. He couldn't believe Tira had seen him in his moment of weakness. He silently kicked himself; why did SHE have to see it?

"Are you going to apologize to her?" Tira asked, "No offense, but that was pretty low."

Cedric shrugged. "I don't know. I tried to earlier today, but I couldn't. I can't face her. I try t look at her as my friend, and the girl who's going to marry Riku. But I keep seeing the woman I love, inside."

Tira smiled. Cedric was stunned. Her smile was so pretty. She appeared happy, but her eyes looked sad, like there was something deep tugging at her heartstrings.

"Doesn't that make you a little dishonest?" She asked. "Keeping your feelings bottled up like that?"

She didn't let him answer. "I'll come by around the same time tomorrow night for my next lesson. Good night Cedric." She turned and left.

Cedric stared after her and sighed. "Dishonest? She may be right…"