I was dreaming. I had to be, because he was standing just a few feet away from me.

His black hair shone in the dawning sunlight, and his blue eyes seemed to stare me down beautifully. His features were so godly and divine, yet in the simplest, flattering form possible.

"Kori, come to me," he called in the sweet, husky voice I loved so much.

I ran to him, ran to him until I thought I could feel my lungs burst and quenching for oxygen. Different faces popped in every direction I looked in, and I had to fight harder to push through the crowd.

Any other time I would have considered myself lucky to get a peek at his sculpted face, but this time he had an expression of betrayal, and the word "traitor" lingered in his blue eyes, now changed from icy blue to a shade of blue so dark that it could be mistaken for black.

I wanted to come to him; didn't he understand that from the way I was fighting so hard if that meant getting at least an inch closer to him?

My legs moved slower and slower as I fought way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the tall clock tower didn't seem to slow down like I was.

And then it happened.

He extended hand was let down in lost hope, and he stared at me as the crowd pulled me back sadly.

The restless sun began to set between two peaks by now, and something forced me to look at the blinding twilight twinkling off in the distance. But when I looked back there was nothing left.

No clock tower.

No crowd.

And soon I realized that he was gone as well.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

I sat up straight, and I heard the rain pouring outside. There was this horrible, high-pitched screech echoing in my ear, and hot tears began to run down my cheeks, burning every inch of skin in ran through. It wasn't until I touched my hands lightly to my mouth when I realized that the scream belonged to me.

It had been so long since I had that dream.

"Shit…" I muttered myself, sniffling my tears. I breathed in carefully, deeply. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to push away the rotten memory of him, the reason for my nightmare.

How could I stop crying inside when the only person who could help me stop was the one who made me start?

It was four years ago. Richard had left me so suddenly, and without so much as a farewell, and for some reason that was unbeknownst to me. I was so weak then; I had let myself fall for him harder than I could even imagine. All of a sudden, when I was around him, I could let go of myself. I missed that feeling. But more important, I still missed him. The fact that I was in love with Richard Grayson, along with the entire nation of girls around the world, seemed very…cliché. But it had felt so real. I knew he had felt the same way about me. I saw the weakness in his eyes whenever I was around him. I always felt a certain thirst in his kisses. Nowadays I doubted, with his busy life, that he rarely thought about me the way I thought about him.

The next morning I knew I was in trouble when I heard Raven making breakfast. She never cooked anything unless she was thinking about something.

"So I heard you screaming again last night," Raven said monotonously. There was a slight hint of concern in her voice.

"I, uh…it was nothing. You know I hate storms," I lied.

We had both changed during our four years at Gotham University. It was a funny thing, actually- it was almost as if we had switched lives since high school. She was dating Garfield now, and I had dated almost half of Jump City and a quarter of the guys in Gotham, yet I had never gone past no more than a third date. Her amethyst eyes were always twinkling with joy, just like mine used to. But now my formerly green eyes were shadowed with a dark green.

There was one point in time during our freshman year of college when I had stopped taking care of myself. I had let myself waste away on junk food. Extra weight, which was something very unfamiliar to my naturally thin body, sat on my torso, just waiting for me to get rid of it. I had dyed my rare auburn hair black. But I couldn't keep the red hair from coming out. My roots would quickly show a few days after I dyed it. I was a lost case; even Gar, who usually saw the light of things, thought there was no hope left…

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"Kori, what are you doing to yourself?"

I had never heard her voice so solemn, so sad and pitiful. I hated being pitied. I tried to hide my hot tears using my usual trick, which was hiding my face behind my long curtain of red hair. But my hair wasn't bright red anymore; it was as black as my mood.

For a moment I couldn't even open my mouth. "I think I'm losing her," I said whispered hoarsely.

Her purple eyes had question marks in them for a split second. "Who did you lose now?"

"Me."

Silence filled the room once more. "Do you want to find…her…again?"

This time I lifted my face up, exhibiting the shameful tears that hung from my eyelashes. "I…I really don't know right now…"

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It took me the whole summer after that to get back into shape. I finally accepted my red hair again, and I got my old body back. But I still couldn't get the shady gray out of my eyes.

'But those are old times,' I thought to myself.

We were fresh out of college now. Just a week ago we had bought our own penthouse here in Gotham. I still couldn't decide on what I wanted to do for a living. I knew for a fact that Galfore wasn't going to let me live on his earnings forever. I was caught between my love for journalism and medicine.

There was an awkward silence between us as I tried my best not to puke at the sight of Raven's almost black pancakes. I took a small sip of coffee, using the mug to block the plate out of my sight.

She burst out laughing. I was so envious of her. She had brought herself to laugh now, something she rarely did in high school. I, on the other hand, brought myself to sulk all the time. I usually only smiled when I was forced or when I was with Raven and Gar.

She was still laughing. "It's okay, Kor. You don't have to eat them."

But her face suddenly became nervous when she looked at the clock, like she was about to ask me for a favor.

"What?" I asked, my smile fading into a skeptical look.

"I hope you don't mind if Gar and I go to the movies for a while."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would I mind? You guys always do that stuff anyway-"

I cut myself off when I realized what she had been so nervous about. I looked at her in disbelief. "You did it again, didn't you?"

She had set me up on a blind date. Again. It was safe to say that Raven had set me up with almost all of Gar's friends, except for Victor. She knew I hated it, not only because of the weird guys she chose (most of them, again, being Gar's friends), but because of dating itself. I hated first dates, where the girl asked all the questions and the guy sat there, bragging about himself every five seconds. First dates seemed more like an interview than romantic time.

"Well, yeah…but let's be honest you really need it nowadays. All you do is sulk around."

She pushed me into the big walk-in closet and I searched for clothing that expressed my moods: bored and…ugly. I pulled on a regular pair of skinny jeans, worn-out and holey, and the ugliest black trench coat and boots that I owned. I tied my red hair up in a messy ponytail, hoping that it would be a turn-off.

We hopped into a taxi and drove off to the café to meet Gar and my "blind date".

Raven was right though. It was time for me to change. As I walked into the café, I recognized an old friend waiting for me, smiling at me. His strong features were still the same, except manlier. His red hair shone in the light and his dark eyes hadn't changed a bit. He still had that cocky smirk that I hated on his face.

"Hey, Stranger," he greeted me. His voice had changed too, from small and boyish to low and husky.

"X'hal…" I couldn't help letting my mouth fall in shock. "Wally…Is it really you?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't recognize him anymore.

And for once, I smiled because I wanted to, not because I was forced. I hadn't felt my heart swell with joy like this since Richard. But the little piece of him that I had been trying to push away was still slightly in my way.

I tried to push the little bit out.

It wouldn't budge.

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