Disclaimers: I don't own anything but the game merchandise and this story. OTL The challenge, however, belongs to HawkRider.

A/N: Life is certainly taking its toll this semester… But anyways, next chapter. :) This was fun to write considering what happens. xD I'm going to try and make sense of all the little things I bring up in the chapters to come, so I'm only hoping that things haven't gotten that confusing just yet. ^^' Also, I forgot to state in my last A/N what exactly the genres this story will have. OTL Of Swans and Princes - aka: OSAP (I love making acronyms LOL) - will consist of: Romance/Friendship/Drama/Humor. ;)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter! :D Thank you so much to everyone who read, subbed, faved, and reviewed the first chapter! I'll try to keep things entertaining and worth your read. Please enjoy and R&R!


.: oo2 | Blind | oo2 :.
~ Innocent Swan ~


This was a dream right? Terra couldn't really be here…right?

Before I knew it, a warm, gentle hand rested on top of my crown and it brought me back to reality. Terra was standing before me, smiling like he always had back then. I couldn't help but blush now that I got an even better look at him. Not only was he tall (the top of my head barely reached his shoulders!), Terra had a very good physique and his face matured a lot. His dark blue eyes still held some of that confident yet boyish snap, but there was also a sense of maturity about him. He was so handsome.

I made a small noise when Terra started ruffling my hair, chuckling. "You're not so small anymore, but you've gotten cuter."

Oh my gosh! I was really hoping he didn't notice how red my face was before I could lower my gaze. I knew people changed over the years, but this was too much; almost unexpected! Terra was even better than I imagined him growing up. Heck, even his voice sent shivers down my spine in a good way…

"Hey, are you okay?" Terra suddenly asked and I noted the worry in his tone.

My head shot up quickly and I tightened my hands into determined fists. Truth be told, I was embarrassed, but chose to ignore that feeling momentarily. "I-I'm fine! It's just…I can't believe you're really back."

Terra blinked once before sighing in relief. He gave me another upturn of his lips; one that was always reserved for me. "I promised you I'd come back didn't I?"

…It was official: Naminé was crazy to say I shouldn't have been crushing on this guy for so long. A smile made its way to my lips as I reaffirmed. "Really?"

"Really." He nodded.

"Kairi?" Snapping to attention and pulling away from Terra's gaze, I looked behind him to spot my older sister furrowing her eyebrows. She stood a few feet away on the sidewalk; indicating that she just got home too, from the dance studio. Her mouth was set into a thin line and she held her small gym bag tightly with one hand as she stared at Terra's back.

Oh. This wasn't good.

"Terra…?" Aqua let out cautiously and I mentally slapped myself.

The brunet standing in front of me turned around, coolly giving Aqua a smirk. If this were any other time, I might have laughed, but all I could do was play with my fingers and hope that nothing was going to happen between my older sister and my childhood crush. They were staring at each other so intently that I could hardly breathe.

Terra broke the silence. "Aqua."

…And then it happened.

"What are you doing here?" Aqua frowned with a cross of her arms.

Terra rolled his eyes before glaring cobalt orbs at sapphire. "Sorry, I had to give you a reason for everything I did when?"

I thought I whispered Terra's name to stop him, but apparently neither person heard my attempts. Aqua shook her head before walking to our front door with her head held high. "You haven't changed at all."

"I can say the same about you," Terra retorted and his expression hardened. "You weren't exactly hospitable when we 'reunited' this afternoon."

…They met earlier?

Aqua stopped in her tracks and turned around; narrowing her eyes considerably and it dawned on me that Aqua hadn't been this angry in a long time. "You honestly thought you could insult me just because we were with your brother? I wasn't going to stand for that!"

…Terra had a brother?

"You were overreacting!" The brunet spat in growing frustration. "It was a joke!"

"A joke?" Aqua scoffed, her tone matching Terra's in volume. "You weren't joking! You were taking a stab at me!"

"Oh man, you're still this sensitive? Grow a backbone."

"Arrogant jerk!"

"Uptight bit—"

"Hey!" I shouted loudly and stood between the older, supposedly 'mature' adults. My violet eyes darted from person to person with my arms spread out to separate them. During their argument, Terra and Aqua had unconsciously stomped closer to each other; mostly likely to rip out each other's throat in a blind rage. From seeing how they bickered, their sour relationship hadn't changed with time unfortunately. My voice tried to remain stern over their hard breathing as they glared darkly at one another. "Calm down, guys! You shouldn't be fighting like this!"

There was a pause of silence before Aqua moved away first. It was obvious she was trying to salvage her dignity since she rarely acted out on emotion like this; at least not as much as before. She strutted up the pathway and pulled out her house key to open the door. "Kairi, get inside please."

I only nodded my head at her monotone request and it was best not to anger her further. Terra made to say something, but I tugged at his hand and gave him a pleading look. He stared down at me – his eyes showing struggle – before he sighed in defeat. Giving him a small smile, I whispered. "Sorry."

Terra poked my forehead playfully before reaching into the bag of his motorcycle. "Don't worry about it. Here." He held up a small box with a pastry logo on it and smiled. "Dessert?"

My eyes twinkled in mirth. "Cream puffs?"

"Yeah. You still like them right?" he asked.

How could I not? They were my favorite pastry all around! I bounced on my toes in excitement. "I do! Does it have strawberry filling?"

Suddenly, Terra flinched and rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away sheepishly. "Oh, uh…they're actually blueberry-filled. Sorry."

…Well, it had been ten years; I wasn't expecting Terra to remember everything that I liked. Beaming in reassurance, I took the box in gratitude. "It's okay; I like blueberry-filling too. Thanks, Terra!"

He smiled a little. "Yeah…"

"Kairi," Aqua called out impatiently.

Oops, I'd better hurry. I turned on my heel after giving Terra one last look. "Coming!" Once we entered the interior of the house, I pulled the front window's drapery to the side to watch Terra drive away on his bike. He stayed in his parking spot for a few seconds more before driving off. Who would've thought Terra would drive a bike? I always assumed he would have a car…

I heard Aqua throw her keys on the kitchen counter and she let out a sharp exhale. That caught my attention immediately and I shook my head out of the spell that Terra had put me under. Right; Aqua was my sister. If she had problems, I wanted to help her out as much as possible…even if the problem right now had something to do with Terra.

I took a deep breath and mustered my brightest smile before I entered the kitchen with the box of cream puffs. Aqua was running a hand through her hair before resting her back against the counter with arms crossed over her chest. Her eyebrows were knitted tightly together and I recognized her behavior as brooding. Yes…Aqua didn't look like it, but she was one of those brooding types. I blame it on her hanging around Larxene's condescending personality actually.

"Sora told me something funny happened in math class." To lighten up the mood, you had to speak about something positive right? I sat down on the high stool; gently placing the cream puffs on the island of kitchen while swinging my legs freely. "They had a substitute teacher, and apparently, he wasn't all that familiar with what the numbers 8-0-0-8-1-3-5-5 meant—"

"What did Terra give you?" Aqua immediately interrogated with a straight face.

Must. Pretend. To not feeling intimidated! My smile wavered for a moment, but I was proud to say that it didn't show any of my nervousness. I lifted the box happily. "Cream puffs! Remember? The ones we used to eat before Mom and Dad…you know."

Aqua honestly looked confused at this point. "Cream puffs? What for?"

To this, I was confused myself. "Actually, I never thought to ask, but he did remember how much I liked cream puffs, so I'm grateful."

Even after I opened the box and took a bite out of the tidbit – to which my mouth was filled with the sweet, delectable filling – Aqua never moved. I couldn't pinpoint if it was because the cream puffs were a gift from Terra or she simply wasn't hungry for sweets. She only stared at me before leaning off the counter and sighing quietly to herself.

It bothered me how Aqua was too stubborn to relax after coming home. Again. "Come on, Aqua. Here! I already taste-tested it so there's no poison. Besides, the cream puffs have blueberry-filling! …Actually when I think about it, isn't blueberry your favorite? Mine was always strawberry."

She blinked in surprise before donning another frown. "I don't want any, thank you."

I pouted a little, but decided to push that aside because I remembered something much more important. "Aqua, where did you meet Terra today?"

The question caught her by surprise before Aqua stared at the ground. It took her a moment to formulate a response and by then, she joined me at the island; resting her head against one of her palms. "At the studio."

"What was Terra doing there?" Aqua was a part-time ballet instructor at a dance studio downtown, so it surprised me that Terra was remotely anywhere in the vicinity. I was pretty sure Terra didn't know how to dance no matter how many years it's been since we last saw him.

Aqua let out a sarcastic laugh and rubbed her eyes. "Apparently, Xemnas was Terra's older brother. It never clicked until Terra was right there standing beside him. I knew there was something about Xemnas's face that bugged me."

…Xemnas? The owner of the studio Aqua worked at? To be realistic, I only met him once when I dropped off a spare change of clothes at the studio for Aqua, but I probably didn't pay attention to Xemnas's face because Aqua distracted me a lot more with her staring when the guy wasn't looking. I guess I initially thought Aqua had a 'thing' for Xemnas – when in reality – she was only trying to pinpoint why Xemnas looked like someone she knew.

"W-Well…you like him don't you?"

Aqua furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"Xemnas…" I clarified, but her reaction wasn't helping. "Don't you like Xemnas? Isn't he your type: smart and sophisticated?"

My face flooded with heat when Aqua gaped at me before evolving into a scolding expression when she recognized what I was planning (or should I say planned) to do. "Kairi, he's my boss."

She made me flinch. "So…that's a 'no' to a relationship?"

"…We are not having this conversation." Aqua walked around the kitchen, opening cupboards to pull out pans and other cooking items. With her back facing me, she advised in a tone that indefinitely belonged to our mother. "I'm going to make dinner now, and when I'm done, we're going to act like you weren't trying to pull a repeat on the 'Saïx incident'. Understood?"

I scrambled to my feet, rushed out of the kitchen, and up the staircase to get to my bedroom. "Yes, ma'am!"

Well…so much for the 'indestructible' plans I've been working on all week. I guess I was blinded by my ambitions to notice that maybe Aqua wasn't looking at her boss in that way. That was a letdown, but still…today wasn't a total loss. Alone in my bedroom, I hugged my pillow with a smile as my thoughts remained preoccupied on Terra and his return to the city.