Note: Hey guys! I'm back and I'm certainly well now that I'm feeling better. I managed to type up this chappie with the remaining pages of my notebook (TT~TT I can't believe I finished another notebook) so I hope that you guys find this slightly better than my previous chappie. Well, i guess this is all I have to say for now...

Rose's POV:

I dodged another Psycho Cut. Even from my memories, Blade was quite the fighter. He looks... almost charming the way he gallantly swings his strong arms skillfully. I couldn't help but admire the way how pure his eyes were.

"What's the matter?" he taunted as he landed a Psycho Cut at me.

I snapped back to reality after taking a hit. I retaliated with a Psychic, though Blade quickly shrugged it off as if it was nothing. If I remembered correctly, Blade was holding a Destiny Knot during that battle. With that knowledge, I decided to try a different tactic.

Using my attacks, I led him through the battle room, keeping a considerable distance between us. I then remembered that he had told me in that battle that he had learned a lot about the way I fought. Being limited to four attacks which he probably knew, I decided to shake things up a bit.

I stopped attacking, allowing Blade to get closer as I began to close my eyes. I began to muster all my concentration to my mind... I decided that it was high time I learned a new attack.

I opened my eyes just as Blade charged. I smiled as I sidestepped and tripped him. As he fell down, I slammed myself into him with Thief.

Blade stumbled to the ground after being knocked down further. He innocently looked up as he was struck by a pink ray of Attract. I smirked as I landed the hit on him.

Blade began to look dizzy... As if he was having some internal conflict. In other words, I got him where I wanted.

I slowly walked up to him, knowing that Attract would kick in sooner or later.

"I-it can't be," he squirmed as if he was a prey injected with venom, "I-I brought a counter to this!"

"You mean... this?" I grinned as I held up his Destiny Knot.

He gasped as a light blush slowly crept up to his face. He looked so helpless, I couldn't help but smile at the fact that, for the first time, he was finally going to go down. He was the prey this time.

I struck at him with Psychic, which he seemed much to pre-occupied to even counter or dodge, thanks to Attract.

He stumbled to the ground once more. I brutally cackled as I brought him down to the ground in a full body tackle, embracing him to finally take down my prey with a full-forced Thunderbolt.

I was ready to fire it off, but he did something unexpected... He kissed me.

I honestly knew that he was simply confused under the spell of Attract, but I couldn't help feeling giddy about it. I would honestly never admit to the real Blade about this, but I did enjoy the kiss... No-one would find out, after all... Blade was just a simulation of my memory. I allowed his kiss to last longer as I closed my eyes, feeling safe in his embrace. The embrace of the knight I knew so well... He was quite pathetic, even in my memories... But I guess that was okay, because I knew that I was pathetic too to fall for my own trick.

My eyes opened wide when I remembered when he had turned many of our battles upside down... I was truly pathetic as the moment we broke out of the kiss, he applied some force, making us roll over sideways, reversing our positions so that he was on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

"You... you're quite the thief," he groaned, "Stealing others' hearts... But this ends here!"

He raised his arm, which began glowing a shade of black. I squirmed underneath him as I tried to break free, but his other arm and his weight kept me pinned under him, allowing no means of escape. I realized how I felt like then... I felt like prey.

Blade struck his Night Slash down at me, razing me with his supereffective attack, knocking me out for good.

A shame... I felt disappointed... again. It was so close... so close... I wanted victory that badly... yet why did I lose?

A bright light flashed as I opened my eyes. I discovered that I was still in the dungeon, albeit in the deepest floor.

"Rose... You have much to learn," Cresselia scolded, "You held victory in your hands yet you blew it... Didn't anybody teach you not to play with your food?"

"It's not my fault! He's just too strong!" I explained.

"Oh, really?" Cresselia slyly smiled, "Then... why did you hesitate to attack him when he kissed you? In fact, it seemed like you were enjoying it!"

My face began to glow red.

"Y-you... were watching the battle?" I blushed, feeling very ashamed as if I had just done something immoral.

Cresselia giggled as she nodded, "Yup! Every single second..."

"Y-you..." I growled, feeling my heart throb faster.

"Hey! It's part of my job to see how well you were faring against your past opponents... By the way, your dungeon completion time was quite fast, although you took longer than usual when confronting Blade," Cresselia seriously informed, "I suppose that's enough for today... You should probably come back tomorrow and see if you can overcome this ordeal."

A bright light flashed and I found myself sitting at the beach with Blade by my side. Dusk had already fallen so I presumed that we had been gone the whole day.

"Rose!" Blade turned towards me, sweat trickling down his face, "Today... How did your training go?"

"Err... It went... well..." I stammered, remembering the battle earlier.

"Are you okay? Your face is quite red..." Blade asked in concern.

"Oh... It's nothing," I quickly replied.

Of all the things he had to ask about, why did it have to be my training?

We both sat in silence as we stared at the stars and the moon. They all seemed to beam down on us. I smiled as I saw the beautiful and... romantic... view.

I stole a glance at Blade, who was staring up at the sky. He seemed to be at peace just staring at the stars.

"Hey... Blade?" I broke the silence.

"Yeah, Rose?" he returned.

I pointed to some stars, "Aren't those stars beautiful? I find myself amazed that they pour down their bright smiles on those who have wronged others as much as those who have done right... That feels like true equality, knowing that no one would ever smile at a criminal..."

"Sell, they happen to be just in judging others for they know that everything and everyone has the capacity to do good inside their hearts," Blade returned, "Which is why a criminal like you makes me smile."

I began to blush as he said that, to which he scratched his head and quickly replied.

"Err... I didn't mean that in a romantic way, okay?" he blushed.

"Ah..." I smiled, "But, now that I think about it... You smile on me... Because you are a star... Or, specifically, you're my star."

There was a short silence as we watched the stars in their eternal brightness.

"Like those stars, I will continue to smile down upon you until my life ends, if that's how you wish," he teased.

"Oh, you..." I giggled as I lightly slapped his hand.

"But seriously, Rose..." Blade returned, with a concerned smile on his face, "I'm really glad I got to meet you... You're very... well... I know you don't want to admit this, but I think that you're actually very concerned for others..."

"Wow... I mean... What you said just now... It... uh... really means a lot to me," I blushed, unconsciously holding his hand, "I'm really thankful... No, I'm very thankful that I managed to meet someone like you too... You didn't judge me at first glance... You took the chance to know me..."

Blade seemed to grip my hand tightly in response... To which I silently smiled. I knew there was something wrong with me, the way I behaved around him... My actions earlier today... Why had I behaved like that earlier? Was it because Blade was... different?

I decided to risk it... I decided to ask Blade, while we were still alone.

"Hey... Blade?" I blushed, "There's been something I've been meaning to ask you for some time now..."

"Yeah?" he sighed dreamily as a cool breeze blew by.

I bit my tongue as I proceeded, "Well, I've been having this weird feel-"

"E-excuse me?" a meek voice interrupted me.

Blade and I turned around to see Claire and Sandra behind us.

"Um... You two... took a while..." Claire blushed, "So we were getting worried. I hope we weren't intruding on... uh... something..."

Sandra merely broke into a fit of giggling.

"Wow, I never thought you two would spend the whole day on a date here..." she giggled as she held her claws together.

"What? No! We were just done with training, err... I meant, the task Darkrai and Cresselia had give us," I defended myself.

"Then how would you explain those?" she grinned as she pointed at our hands. I realized that I was still holding Blade's hand and quickly pulled my hand away.

Blade and I began to blush heavily.

"I think you've got it wrong, Sandra..." Blade weakly replied.

"My, this is the first time I've heard you deny something like tis, Blade," she chuckled.

I was about to reply, but Sandra continued speaking.

"It's time for dinner, so I suggest that you two lovebirds hurry up before Blaze suspects something," Sandra retorted as she flew away.

"I'll be going then, Rose," Claire bowed as she floated away.

Blade simply stood up and took my hand as he helped me up.

"Come on... We better get going too..." Blade encouraged, "We've got a whole day of training ahead of us..."

"Um..." I shyly replied, "I guess you're right..."

Note: It's high time we finally get to see a little romance between our two main characters... Ehehe, although I'm not quite sure if Rose is aware of this... Or Blade for that matter... Well, how did you guys find it? Leave your opinions in the reviews, please... Remember, every opinion counts... Ah well... Seeya!