A/N: It's been a while, and for that I apologize. Things have been quite hectic and to be honest, I was not pleased with the chapter and had to redo it several times. I'm still not sure if this is how I wanted it, but I don't think I should dely any longer. Anyway, I hope you guys like it and I wanted to say how much I appreciate my readers and the ones from the prequel. They rest will find their way along sooner or later.

Kosmic Kitty- Some of them are oddly enough, from my friends or my brother at four in the morning. He's very somber usually and they just come out, while others are from famous people that I just loved. Here's one for you that made me laugh. "Don't let it end like this... tell them I said something good." - the last words of Pancho Villa (it's so wrong that I laughed)

Yipster54- your kidding! Goodness, no one in our archery class is that bad, but there are some near misses. lol, I'm impressed you decided to put your life on the line and stay, waves blue banner> go Yipster! ( I also like long reviews! . - )

blackmagic111090- I know! Painful things, and they're in pink now too! shudders> I'd be so embarassed to walk in to school with them on my cheek, I felt so proud of Aeris, I'd have been stressing like crazy about how it would look to that cute guy in the fourth row coughs>. Anyway, thanks for reviewing lol.

kyo's little koneko- thank you! Oh... you aren't refering to Kyo from Fruits Basket are you? I LOVE THAT ANIME! I just ordered the complete series and am currently reading the manga.

Redrise Moon- lol you change your name a bit, so I'm always sure to look carefully at each review to see which one is you. And I know! It's such a problem for me with Dark and Krad, I want to put them in, but each time I do, it's poorly done and decide to change it. I am trying to work them in, but I fear they won't have major roles. I don't know what's with those two, honestly. lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm very poor and plan on blowing the remainder of my money on my brother's graduation gift. WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD SUE A GIRL WHO'S TRYING TO BUY A GIFT FOR HER BRO! shakes fist>

Being part IV of II

"Don't be so humble, your not that great." -Golda Meir to a visiting diplomat.

"Black holes are where god divided by zero," -Steven Wright

Aeris resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"So anyway…"

Takeshi was ranting again, and she tuned him out as she'd done many times before. It wasn't being rude, Takeshi never even notices. Resting her chin in her hand she looked out the window, glad that spring was finally here.

Their school was big on appearances so they had plenty of large healthy trees and brightly colored flowers were abundant all across the grounds.

The tulips moved slowly in the gentle breeze and Aeris smiled faintly. She didn't know why she was so happy, her cheek hurt, and the stitches should have made her feel insecure about her appearance but there was just something about today.

Her face flushed, okay, so maybe she knew why she was in such a good mood.

Today was her and Satoshi's official one month.

And she didn't find black roses on her doorstep this morning. A fresh bouquet of white lilies, her favorite, was in Satoshi's hands on her doorstep earlier. Needless to say, if your mornings start off good, you'll be in a good mood for the rest of the day.

"I think I can guess why you're grinning." Riku smirked at Aeris while they sat outside near one of the pretty flowerbeds Aeris had been admiring from the window earlier.

"Oh shut up." Aeris felt her face heat up and turned away hoping Riku wouldn't catch it.

Obviously way too much to ask for.

"You're blushing! Aww, Aeries!" Riku teased making Aeris of course retaliate.

"Daisuke! Riku's over here making out with Takeshi!" Aeris yelled as loud as she could, enjoying the scandalized look on Riku's shocked face.

"WHAT!"

Unable to stop herself, she burst out laughing, tumbling back onto the grass when Riku tackled her.

"…They're both lunatics." Satoshi said watching as his girlfriend and Riku rolled in the grass, getting it all in their hair and shrieking out embarrassing things about one another.

"I agree." Daisuke said with a grin. "But I suppose we'd better go pull them off each other."

Satoshi rolled up his shirt's sleeves. "I've got mine, you get yours."

Aeris suddenly felt herself being gently lifted off of Riku and pulled against a strong chest.

"We thought it best to separate you before the hair pulling started." Daisuke said amusingly while Riku tried to swing at her from his arms.

"C'mon, opposite sides of the ring." Satoshi smiled, carrying her effortlessly away from the others.

"Satoshi! She started it!"

He sat down on the grass and pulled her against him. "Sure she did." He said soothingly, trying hard not to laugh.

"You're supposed to be taking my side!"

Satoshi was surrounded by darkness and pouring rain. It was like something out of a nightmare, lightening flashing every few minutes lighting the harsh broken pavement.

It was so dark and the rain was falling so hard, he could barely see.

"Satoshi!"

Aeris?

He whirled around to see her rushing towards him.

"Satoshi!" Her voice was more urgent, she was running faster now.

And he could see why. Darkness swelled up behind her like a tidal wave, threatening to swallow her whole.

He tried to run to her, but the darkness slid underneath him and wrapped around his legs, holding him to the ground.

Aeris was fast, and she was giving it all she had to reach him. Mere inches before she would've grasped his outstretched hands the darkness finally got a hold of her.

It wrapped around her like ivy does a tree, choking her.

"Satoshi!" She was fighting it still, trying desperately to get free. "Save me!"

The darkness swelled around his legs, climbing up his torso to keep him firmly on the ground.

The darkness engulfed Aeris until he couldn't see her or hear her screams.

"AERIS!"

The darkness slowly released him and went into the ground.

"AERIS!"

Satoshi shot up, drenched in a cold sweat. It took him a moment to realize where he was, alone in his bed. But what about Aeris?

His head told him that it was all just a dream, but he couldn't shake the feeling it had left in its wake.

Pulling on his clothes he stumbled out of the house and hammered on Aeris' door.

He didn't care if it was three in the morning, he didn't care that he was probably waking the neighbors.

After a few moments a bleary eyed Aeris opened the door in her robe. "Satoshi? What-"

He pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly on her doorstep. "Aeris." He breathed in relief.

"Satoshi?" She whispered against his chest. "Is- is everything all right?"

He smiled into her hair, "Everything's fine."

"What is with that boy? Is he physic or something?" Hiro hissed into Arima's ear.

They had barely managed to hide themselves in the alleyway before Satoshi came hurrying past.

"She's letting him in!" Arima's hands clenched the wall corner, trying not to let his emotions show.

"Just great. Another opportunity wasted. We've got to do something about him." Hiro leaned against the brick tiredly.

"But what? We can't hurt him, he's innocent."

"Technically. But your right, we have to find a way to just keep him out of the picture without actually hurting him."

Arima laughed bitterly. "Fat chance, what could we do? There's no way he'd just leave her be to get hurt."

"Unless… we made her leave him." Hiro's voice was low; it always was when he was scheming something.

"You mean draw her out?" Arima's voice was bored. "Father tried that before remember? She's not stupid."

"That's not what I meant. Think about it, if Satoshi was out of the picture it would all be to easy." He began to pace the small alleyway, and Arima was suddenly struck with the realization of how much Hiro took after their father.

Albedo would pace when planning or talking to himself.

Arima's forehead creased, now that he thought about it, Hiro and father were very alike. How come he never noticed it before?

"Arima! Are you listening to me?"

Arima's head snapped up and he focused on his brother. "I'm sorry, I was thinking. What were you saying?"

Hiro frowned at him before continuing to speak. "I said, we could turn her against him. Make her hate him."

"You make it sound so easy." Though the idea appealed to him greatly, Arima thought the chances were beyond slim.

"It won't be, but we could pull it off." Hiro held his hand out for Arima to take. "C'mon, it's late."

Arima hesitated before taking his twin's hand. After all, if anyone could turn people against each other, it was Hiro.