"Why aren't you with Kairi…?"

"Why should I be?"

"Don't you guys have a date…?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't… but she might…"

What was this?

"Why are you dating Roxas…?"

"Because… I-"

"You what? You love him?"

"You love Kairi! So does it matter? We both belong with whom we belong with! So it doesn't matter!"

"Ha… I don't love Kairi…"

Wait a minute… I know this moment. This memory…

"You think I don't love you Talia…?"

"You don't!"

"Ah, looks like the nerd of the school is finally wrong about something."

This was when Sora and I first told each other we loved each other. Why… why was I dreaming about this? Sora doesn't love me anymore… he loves Rinoa now.

"You. Are. Wrong."

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I quickly jumped up on my bed. A cold sweat had broken out on me and my bed sheets were a tangled mess. I looked around for a minute, confused, before my eyes landed on my phone. What time was it?

9:27am

"Oh my God," I said to myself as I jumped out of bed, almost tripping over my sheets.

I was late for work. Vanitas was going to kill me. How could I over sleep? I'd usually hear my alarm the first time it goes off. Did it have to do something with that dream?

I shook my head. No time to think about that. I had to get to the hospital before I'm fired. Rushing, I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I'd have to take a full shower later. I don't have time for anything right now.

I quickly threw on my blue nursing outfit and stumbled out of my bedroom. I grabbed my car keys off the counter and headed out my apartment.

I hope he doesn't kill me.

~!~

"2 hours late!" Vanitas screamed in my face as he sat behind his desk. He was really pissed. He didn't even offer me to take a seat while he yelled at me.

As if he was going to offer me to sit anyway, but still.

"I'm so sorry," I bowed.

"Sorry?! Sorry?! What if a patient was dying at 7:29 and you were our only trainee available for help and you didn't get here on time? If they died it would've been your fault!" He glared at me.

"I'm sorry," I said again. I couldn't talk back to him when I was in the wrong.

"For your punishment, no lunch break today!" He smirked evilly at me.

No lunch break? He couldn't do this, right? I didn't even eat breakfast this morning!

Right on cue, my stomach let out a loud growl which caused Vanitas's smirk to grow even wider.

"Aw, too bad. You seem like you're hungry, too-"

"Give her a break, Van." Dr. Ven stood in the doorway and rolled his eyes slightly at his twin brother.

"Don't tell me what to do with my assistant, Ventus."

"No lunch break? Really? You can't do that to her. She has never been late since she started working here. This is her first time. Leave her alone," Ven walked over to me and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Look, who's the older sibling her-"

"You're only older by 2 minutes," Ven quickly said back to his brother.

Vanitas sucked his teeth and turned his attention towards me. He glared at me slightly before shaking his head.

"Fine. You can have your lunch break when it arrives, but if you're late again…" He did the slit throat motion towards me and stood up from his desk.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again.

"Whatever. Go fetch me my coffee," He waved me off as he left his office.

"Don't worry about him. I'll make sure he treats you right, okay?" Ven smiled at me. I couldn't help but stare into his eyes. They reminded me so much of Sora's. So warm… and comforting like he actually cared for a slight moment about me.

"KISARAGI, YOU'RE NOT GETTING PAID TO FLIRT WITH MY BROTHER! GO GET MY COFFEE NOW!" Vanitas yelled from the hallway outside causing both me and Dr. Ven to jump.

"Heh, I'll see you later!" Ven smiled and ruffled my hair before exiting the office.

~!~

Kairi and Riku sat in front of Sora in his house. Sora had invited them over to talk. He couldn't stand not being able to talk to his two best friends. They've been best friends since they were all about 6 years old. He couldn't let his fiancée get in between them.

"So what's this about?" Kairi crossed her legs and sat back further in the white couch she sat on.

"Kai… Riku… I'm sorry about what happened the other day…" Sora apologized, looking at the floor beneath him.

"Yeah well…" Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Kairi…" Riku glanced over at her. "Be nice."

Kairi frowned at him before turning her attention back to Sora.

"I guess I can forgive you… since… I never know…" Kairi said before slowly drifting off.

"You saw Talia yesterday, right?" Riku arched a brow.

"Yeah… how'd you know?" Sora asked suspiciously.

"I'm Riku. I know everything," he smirked at Sora.

"Shut up," Kairi punched his arm.

"Anyways," Riku said as he glared slightly at his girlfriend. "How'd it go? Did you tell her ye-"

"I haven't told her anything." Sora quickly cut him off.

"Ugh! When are you going to tell her?!" Kairi sat up straight and glared slightly at Sora.

"I can't… I might hurt her…"

"Don't you think you've hurt her enough already with this whole engaged thing?" Riku asked.

"And hurt her?! So it's okay to hurt me but not her?! How do you think I felt when you first told me?!" Kairi yelled at him.

"Calm down, Kairi," Riku placed a hand on her arm, instantly calming the redhead down.

"I know, okay? I'm sorry! I can't tell her now! She barely wants to be around me! I can tell. I know her. She's so awkward and quiet when she gets around me. She's not her usual funny, sarcastic self. I can't stand to hurt her even more than what she's already hurting…"

Kairi and Riku grew quiet as they stared at Sora. His eyes were giving off a distance look. The usual bright glow in his ocean blue eyes was no longer there. Their best friend was miserable. They could easily tell. He was still in love with Talia. Anyone could tell that just by mentioning the girl's name and his face brightening up for a second before slowly fading back into a frown.

"I have to go pick up Kaiya from the daycare center now…" Kairi said as she stood up and walked over to Sora. She placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Please don't be so depressed, baby, okay? Talia's just a nerd anyway!"

Sora smiled slightly at Kairi. She was always trying to cheer him up. She and Riku had been there for him through everything.

"Okay… I'll see you guys later…" Sora waved at them as he watched them walk over to the door to leave.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Sora leaned back onto the couch. What was he going to do? He knew he had to Talia sooner or later. He just didn't know how.

~!~

"Talia!"

A women's voice? Who was she? I didn't recognize her voice.

"KISARAGI! GET YOUR SELF OUT HERE NOW! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!" Vanitas yelled at me from the front desk.

I was in the staff room, preparing to go on my much needed lunch break. Vanitas had me working extra hard today, so I was already weak and not in a good mood. I slowly walked out the staff room and over to the nurse's desk. My eyes widened at the person I saw that stood beside my boss.

What was Rinoa doing here? How did she even know that I worked here? We weren't that close. Could you even call us friends?

"This woman is here to take you to lunch," Vanitas rolled his eyes at Rinoa who gave him a forced smile back.

I stared at Rinoa in shock. What was she doing here? She must've just left her job because she was wearing a gray skirt, a white button up blouse with ruffles on the sleeves, and black high heel shoes. Was she on her lunch break?

"I thought we could discuss some of my wedding details over lunch! My treat!" She grinned at me.

I just blinked at her. Was she serious? She's taking me out to lunch? I can't understand why Kairi and the rest of my friends – especially Naminé – don't like her. She seems like a sweetheart to me.

"Uh… okay?" I smiled wearily at her and turned my attention to Vanitas. Of course, I being able to leave the hospital for lunch required for Satan's permission.

"A wedding? You're inviting this train wreck of an assistant to your wedding? Ha! Good luck with her!" Vanitas shook his head and pushed pass me. I guess that was my okay to go.

"Hey!" Rinoa called down the hallway. "For the record, Talia Kisaragi will probably be the best employee you'll ever have!"

Vanitas waved her off as he made a left turn into his office. I just turned around and smiled kindly at her.

"Thanks…"

"No problem, sweetie. Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the elevators.

Rinoa really is a sweetheart. I'm actually starting to like her… even if she is Sora's fiancée.

~!~

"So I was thinking of a pale blue and white color for my wedding colors. Do you like that… or no?" Rinoa asked me as she took a bite out of her salad.

We were in some small café in Downtown Twilight Town. It wasn't that crowded but it had a good amount of people in it. I had never been here before so it must've been new. I knew Twilight Town inside out and I've never seen it.

"Hm… that seems like a nice color…" I said as I took a bite of my burger.

Compared to what Rinoa ordered and to what I ordered, I seemed like some fat girl who didn't care about her weight and Rinoa was like the popular kids (Let's take Kairi as an example) in high school who cared too much about their weight and not so much about their grades.

No one can really blame me or her though. I didn't eat breakfast and Rinoa was trying to lose weight to fit in her dress. I didn't actually see why she needed to lose weight, she was already skinny.

Is this why Sora likes her? Because she cares so much about her weight? Now that I mention it, all of my female friends are smaller than me. I'm kind of curvy, which I guess is a good thing, but some guys don't like curvy girls, right? The only semi-curvy girl I know is Kairi and that's only because she had a baby.

"Talia are you listening to me?!" Rinoa waved a forkful of lettuce in my face.

"Oh, I'm sorry! What did you say?" I smiled at her.

"I asked what do you think about the color of Sora's eyes and white to be my wedding color."

"How's Atlantica?" Sora smiled on the phone. I could tell he was smiling by the way he was talking.

"It's always so hot, but it's cool, I guess!"I shrugged as I walked the campus of Atlantica University. It was my freshman year and I was still trying to get used to it. "How's Destiny U?"

"It's fun… for college," he laughed. "I miss you though…"

"I miss you, too! I'll try to come see you on spring break, okay?"

"That's so long away though…" Sora whined.

"You're such a kid. Hm, okay… how about every time you eat sea salt ice cream while watching the sunset, just picture me beside you, eating it with you!"

"…Are you serious…?"

"Very. And every time I see the ocean, I'll think of you, because of your eyes!" I smiled.

"I hate the color of my eyes. People always obsess over them. Please find something else…"

"You're difficult, but okay."

"Talia? You keep zoning out. Are you sure you're okay?" Rinoa asked me, a worried look on her face.

"I'm fine! But um… maybe you shouldn't do the color of Sora's eyes… I like the pale blue idea!" I gave her a small smile. Why did I suddenly have that flashback?

"Hm… you're right. It might annoy him," Rinoa agreed as she wrote something down in her notepad. "Tell me more about you and Sora though! You two seem to know each other very well…"

Why was she asking this? I mean… didn't we already explain to her that we were just friends?

Did she see through our lie?

"We're just friends," I said as I sipped my lemonade.

"Why does Kairi hate you so much? I know about her being in love with Sora in high school… but I don't understand… nothing is adding up, you know?" Rinoa looked at me dead in my eyes as she ate another forkful of her salad.

I gulped. Why was she making me nervous? Maybe because her brown eyes that were just warm a few minutes ago now turned into ice cold ones?

Rinoa was dead ass. She wanted the truth and she wanted it now. She must've seen through the lie. It was the only way.

"Actually… Sora and I… dated the last week of high school…" I said skeptically.

"Dated? As in… holding hands and kissing type of dating?" Rinoa sat back in her chair.

"There's no other kind…" I laughed nervously. She did not find this funny.

"How long… were you dating?" She raised a brow.

"About… 3 days…"

Her eyes seemed to warm up again as a smile appeared on her face. Her smile though looked as if she was trying not to laugh.

"What happened? You guys decided it wasn't right or something?"

"Actually… I was going to Atlantica… and we decided to take a break… until I came back," I said the last part quietly.

"Excuse me?" Her eyes turned cold again. "So what you're telling me you and Sora never officially broke up?!"

Her voice was getting higher and higher, causing several people to turn their attention to us.

"Ah, no! We're not together, clearly as you can see! He's… all yours now," I forced a smile at her. She did not return it.

"No! This will not be settled until an official break up of you two is done! And I'll be there to witness it! Are you free tonight?" She asked me.

"Eh… actually I have to complete my nursing journal-"

"It's not going to take long just to break up. Just say something like let's be friends or something," She grinned at me.

My heart was literary coming to a stop. She wanted me to break up with Sora… again? We weren't even together, obviously! He was engaged to her. Does it matter? Nothing matters! He loves her! He's in love with her now! Why does this have to be done?

"He loves you now-"

"Now? He's always loved me…" Rinoa smiled in my face again.

Usually I'd have a smart comeback but my heart was going crazy, the room was spinning. I had no clue what was happening to me.

"…What time… do you want me over there?" I asked her.

"Hm… how about 7pm? Is that too late for you or…?"

"It's fine…" I said. I looked down at my half eaten burger and fries. Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry anymore.

~!~

Naminé sat in the Usual Spot next to Roxas as she was going over Rinoa's wedding details. Even though Naminé hated Rinoa with a passion, she just couldn't ruin Sora's wedding. It was going to be his special day, too. Roxas glanced over at his girlfriend as she erased something and tapped the pencil on her head.

The Usual Spot was quite quiet since the rest of their friends had either something to do or a job to tend to. So Naminé and Roxas had the space all to themselves.

"You seem to be thinking really hard about something…" Roxas smiled slightly at his girlfriend.

Naminé jumped slightly. It had been almost complete silence until he said something. She just looked up at him and gave him a quick smile before going back to her notepad.

"Do you ever take a break from that…?" He arched a brow at her.

"Yes… when I'm at my art studio…" Naminé said, not taking her eyes off the notepad.

"And when's the last time you've been there?"

"… About 4 days ago…"

"You need to take a break with this wedding thing," Roxas sighed.

"It must be perfect for Sora!" Naminé simply said.

"What about Rinoa," Roxas smirked at her.

"Rinoa can go-"

Before Naminé had time to finish her sentence Roxas had somehow slipped his arms around her waist and leaned her back on to the blue couch they sat on. Her notepad had instantly fallen to the floor along with the pencil.

Naminé's face instantly turned a bright red. "R-Roxas?"

"You're so busy with this wedding that you never have time for me anymore," Roxas playfully pouted at his girlfriend who lay underneath him.

"I-I…" Naminé couldn't focus on her words. Roxas has never done something like this before. This was all new to her.

"Is this how you're going to be when I ask you to marry me?"

Naminé blushed even harder. Marry him? They never really discussed them getting married before. If she were to marry Roxas her name would be Naminé Hikari. She kind of liked the sound of that.

"I-I have to plan Sora's wedding… please let me go…" Naminé slightly whined, avoiding Roxas's eyes as they stared right at her.

"That can wait for a few minutes," Roxas said as he leaned in and kissed the blonde haired girl below him.

Suddenly all thoughts of Rinoa and Sora's wedding left Naminé's mind and the only thing she could focus on was the boy who was kissing her.

"Ahem," Pence cleared his throat as he entered the Usual Spot. "Am I interrupting something?"

Roxas quickly sat up and looked over at Pence who was smirking. Naminé slowly sat up and looked kind of dazed out as she picked up her notepad.

"Nope. In fact I was just about to leave," Roxas stood up.

"Are you sure I wasn't interrupting something?" Pence smirked at the flushed Naminé on the couch.

"N-no…" Naminé quietly said.

"Ha, I'll see you later! Bye, Nami," Roxas winked at his girlfriend and quickly left the Usual Spot.

"So… it looks like I'm going to be a God-Father soon, eh?" Pence smiled slyly at Naminé who quickly threw her notepad at the brunette.

"Shut up, Pence!"

~!~

I stood in front of the doorway to Sora's house, my hand frozen in mid-knock. Was I really going to do this? I didn't have to do this, right? Rinoa needs to realize that Sora and I haven't been together since our freshmen year in college. He was engaged to her now.

He was in love with her now.

"Talia! I'm glad you came!" Rinoa smiled at me as she stood in front of me in the doorway. Had I knocked without realizing it?

"Um… yeah…" I shifted my weight a little to my right leg and gave her a slight smile.

"Well don't be a stranger! Come in! We've been waiting for you!" She moved aside slightly to let me into the house.

They'd been waiting for me?

I slowly walked into the house into the living room where Sora sat. He looked kind of distant. My heart instantly stopped when I saw him. He must've heard me come in because he instantly stood up and gave me a small smile.

"Hi…" I said softly.

"Ah! Well let's get this over with! Talia has work she needs to tend to!" Rinoa said as she walked in behind me.

Did Sora know this was going to happen to? Is this why he looked so… depressed? Why should he be? We both knew we weren't technically together. Rinoa was the one forcing this upon each other.

"Go on you guys! Or do you need privacy…?" Rinoa arched a brow at us as we still stood a distance away from each other.

We both didn't move. He just stared at the floor while I fiddled with my fingers. Rinoa let out a heavy sigh and grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the couch where Sora was. She stood me right in front of me and took a step back away from us. Sora and I both quickly glanced up at each other but quickly looked away.

"Have you guys ever broken up with someone before? This doesn't have to be a hateful break up. Just a simple one, ya know?" Rinoa smiled at us.

Sora looked over at Rinoa who gave him an impatient look and slightly nodded her head over at me. He let out a sigh and gently took my hands in his. Just the touch from his hands sent a chill up my arm. I missed holding his hands.

I just wish we weren't holding hands in this type of situation.

"Talia…" Sora began.

"…I'm going in the kitchen. This was just supposed to be a simple let's be friends break up and you guys are making this more difficult than what it has to be!" Rinoa said kind of angrily and left for the kitchen. "You have 5 minutes to get this thing over with before I call off this whole wedding!"

Sora and I instantly looked over at the fuming Rinoa. Would she really call of her wedding because of something stupid like this? That's really dumb. Does she know how much she would hurt Sora if she did that? I would really hate her if she ever hurt Sora.

Sora squeezed my hand a little to bring my attention back to him. I quickly looked over at him and gave him a small smile.

"We have 5 minutes… so let's just get this over with…" I said.

"I'm sorry…" He said as he let go of my hands.

"For what? Falling in love?" I smiled at him. I really wanted to be happy for him… but I just couldn't. Something was stopping me.

He just looked away from me. I laughed slightly. I guess I was going to have to be the one to initiate this break up.

"Well Sora… it was a nice… 3 days… of dating? Even though it was 4 years ago… we can still be friends?" I said, trying my best to get a laugh out of him and not trying to cry.

He looked over at me and he honestly looked like he was trying to fight back tears himself. Why would he be upset over me, though? Starting now, we were nothing to each other but friends.

My heart felt like it was going to die of sadness as I watched him continue to stare at the floor. Did he still have feelings for me or something? That couldn't be possible, though. He had Rinoa now.

He finally looked up at me and gave me a big smile. Even though he was smiling, his eyes were telling a different story.

"Yeah! Friends! Just like how we used to be…" He smiled at me. I just nodded my head slowly and looked away from him.

Rinoa suddenly burst through the kitchen door with a tray full of cookies on them and smiled brightly at us.

"I heard it all from the kitchen! I'm glad we can all be friends now!" She said as she walked over to us and placed the tray on the coffee table. "Talia, why don't you stay over and chat with us for a while."

I just casually shook my head at her and gave her a light smile. "No thanks, I have to get home now… I still have my journal I need to complete…"

Rinoa frowned slightly and walked over to me and quickly embraced me in a hug. Sora just stood back and watched us awkwardly.

"Well, now that you're just our friend, you're welcome over here anytime…" Rinoa squeezed me as I patted her back awkwardly.

"Yeah… thanks," I said as she let go of me.

"Let Sora walk you to the door!" Rinoa grinned and glanced over at Sora who had now taken a seat on the couch. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to her.

"N-no it's fine!" I stuttered as I slowly backed my way out of the living room to the front door.

"Hm… well have a safe trip home, sweetie," Rinoa grinned at me once more.

"Thanks… see you around," I waved slightly at her as I exited their house and closed the door behind me.

I quickly walked over to my car and sat in the driver's seat. I stared in front of me at nothing in particular as the events that just happened replayed in my mind. Before I knew it, tears were streaming nonstop down my face. I gripped the steering wheel hard as my head fell to rest on it.

Why did I have to go to Atlantica? Why did he have to meet Rinoa? Why did he have to fall in love with her?

Why did I have to fall in love with him?

~!~

Rinoa peeked out the living room window at the car that was now just pulling out of the driveway. It had been there for a good 15 minutes before it finally decided to leave. Rinoa smirked slightly to herself as she turned around to face a Sora who was still in an emotionless state.

"Cheer up, baby! I don't understand why you're so sad," Rinoa smiled as she walked over to Sora and took a seat in his lap.

She frowned to herself when he didn't wrap his arms around her waist like he usually did when she sat on his lap. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice her there.

"Sora!"

"H-huh?" He said, coming out of his deep thoughts.

"What's wrong? You're not sad over that, are you?" Rinoa said in disgust.

"Hey, don't refer to her as that!" Sora said in a serious tone. He never used a serious tone with Rinoa.

"…Well… you have me now, so no worries ri-"

Rinoa was cut off as Sora's phone began to ring.

"Don't answer it... we're discussing something right now," Rinoa gave him a serious look which Sora ignored.

Sora reached across Rinoa and grabbed his phone off the table. His eyes widened at the caller id and he immediately answered it.

"H-hello, sir?"

Rinoa tilted her head slightly at Sora. He must of have been talking to someone important if he referred to the person as sir.

She watched as he would casually nod his head, a dead serious look on his face.

"I understand…"

As he said this, Rinoa notice his whole demeanor change. The expression on his face became tense as he still listened carefully to the person on the phone. Rinoa wondered who he was talking to and what they were talking about to cause her fiancé to act this way.

"Yes, sir. Thank you…" Sora said as he slowly ended his call. He looked right over at Rinoa who just looked at him confused back.

"What's wrong…?" Rinoa asked carefully.

"…The war between Hollow Bastion and Agrabah has gotten worse…" Sora said slowly.

"Okay… and…" Rinoa urged him to continue. She was starting to not like where this was headed.

"A lot of our men are decreasing and they need as much help as possibl-"

"Sora! You just came back from that dumb war 6 months ago! You said you wouldn't go back until after we were married!" Rinoa quickly stood up and stared at him, fighting back tears.

Sora pulled her back down towards him and held her as she struggled to break free again.

"I know… I'm sorry. They need me though, Rinoa. All soldiers on vacation are being forced to return…"

"Our w-wedding," Rinoa stuttered as tears began to fall down her face. Sora quickly brushed them away with his thumb.

"I'll be back for our wedding… I promise…"

"You promised you wouldn't go back to the military until after we were married but you broke that! Why should I believe you now?!" Rinoa broke free of Sora and ran away to their bedroom.

Sora flinched as he heard the door slam loudly. He let out a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

What was he going to do? He had to leave in a week to Hollow Bastion to help defenseless country. How was he going to tell his friends?

But worse… how was he going to tell Talia?

~!~

A/N: I'M SO SORRY! Ugh, school is so stressful this year. I have so much homework and tests and then after school activities and I just haven't had the time. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner though :) Thanks for sticking with me this long. -Rimi