AN: So, I'm almost done with this story, since the next chapter will be the last, and it feels bittersweet. Oh yeah, and I also wanted to say that I made an announcement on Tumblr about LeoSaku Week happening in December, and I saw some familiar names like that post. Why aren't you all talking to me?

scalding-coffee-cup

Say hello!

Anyway, enjoy.

Leo likes to think that everything started with a surprisingly cheeky comment that slipped from Sakura's lips.

During a study session in her bedroom, she offered that the two of them take a break and watch a movie together, despite not knowing what movie they should watch. Playfully, Leo decided to tease her as she flipped through potential movies they could watch. "Oh? Didn't get that far in your plan to get me so close to you?"

Sakura stopped her search to look at him with wide eyes, surprised he'd even say something like that to her. He waited for her to shake her head vigorously and deny the accusation, but it never came. Instead, her eyes return to normal, and she smiled at him before turning back to the television screen. "I guess I'm n-not as crafty as y-you are, Leo."

He remembers how badly she caught him off-guard with that witty retort, but not so badly that he couldn't bounce right back. In an instant, his arms found themselves around her waist as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. "No," he told her, "I guess you're not."

Since then, the two of them have abandoned studying all together, and spend their time wrapped in each other's arms with a movie or television show playing in front of them. Right now, as the two of them lay face to face without the television's background noise, Leo feels nervous for some reason.

He hasn't formally told Sakura his feelings for her yet. He's dropped a couple of hints before their relationship turned out this way, but she's been surprisingly oblivious. That, or she knows how he feels, and she's not ready to answer the question he's never asked. Leo reaches out to remove a stray hair from Sakura's face. His hand lingers as the side of her face as he fixes his mouth to say something to her, but nothing comes out.

She's really left him speechless.

Sakura places her hand on top of the one that caresses her cheek, and lets out a tiny laugh that fills him with warmth. "I'm r-really glad that I'm n-not the only one who's feeling shy," she tells him as her hand gently squeezes his own.

Leo's brow furrows. "It's not that I'm shy, I just… don't have the right words to express myself right now."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

He licks his lips in contemplation before answering, "I don't know. There's this sort of… peace I feel when I'm around you. Lately, everything with my dreams has really been weighing me down." The dreams decide to happen upon him at any time during the day as well as during the middle of the night. For whatever reason, he's been feeling drowsier than normal lately, and the espresso shots he's taken over the past few weeks don't do much to improve his sleepy state.

If anything, it feels like they've worsened it. "They're depressing and I feel like they drain me of all my energy but… having you here makes things a little less bleak. So thanks for sticking with me even if I am 'a little rough around the edges.'"

Sakura silently gazes into his eyes for a while before she giggles. "I remember saying that it was… e-endearing."

A low, breathy laugh escapes him, and he pulls Sakura closer to him so that she rests comfortably against his chest. "Yeah, I remember that too. It made me feel good."

The two of them fall into silence afterwards, and Leo, who's been having trouble keeping his eyes open for the past two minutes, finally closes them. How could he not doze off under fluffy blankets as he held Sakura in his arms? When his eyes reopened, however, Sakura was gone, and his arms held close Brynhildr instead.

That feeling of tranquility vanishes as one of anxiousness quickly takes its place. It's as if it's always been there, eating away at him. His siblings are all here, and it should have been enough to make him happy, but he can't when his brother accuses the only man he's ever known as a father of being a monster.

As much as he holds Corrin in such high regard, he can't help but feel skeptical. If Garon was a monster as he claimed, why didn't he say so earlier? They could have saved a lot of time, money and people that way, couldn't they? What did Corrin and Azura have to gain from keeping this whole thing a secret?

What did they have to lose?

When the doors to the throne room open, Leo is in complete shock. "How could…?" is all he manages to utter, as he watches putrid slime with a mind of its own make a mess of the floor. It's disgusting.

Garon's body is hollow, as is the feeling in Leo's chest when he looks upon the mucky exterior of the man he calls father. Although this monster towers over him menacingly, he can't seem to grasp the reality that this… thing and his father are one. How could something like this have happened? When did it happen?

But why did Corrin and Azura wait until now to say something to them? Didn't those two know how much they cared for their father? How are they supposed to take up arms against him? Leo can't bring himself to do so, not even when his father raises his weapon to strike him and his siblings.

The fresh wound on his body aches terribly, and his mind has gone into such a state of confusion that his head begins to throb. All he can manage to do is weakly ask "Why?" Who is he even asking? His siblings? His father? The gods? Someone has to have the answers he's looking for.

And yet, no one answers him, and he's forced to stare into the horrific eyes of the monster that Corrin and Azura keep claiming to be his father. Whatever has happened to him, he's still their father, isn't he? Leo isn't sure if he can do this. Brynhildr leaves his trembling fingers, and hits the throne room floor with a thud.

As delusional as the thought is, there has to be some way to save his father, isn't there? This isn't the end. It can't be. And yet, Leo watches as his father raise his arm to strike again. Leo clenches his fist, squeezes his eyes shut, and in a raw, hoarse voice, he manages to cry out "Father," pleading for him to stop.

When the pain doesn't hit, his eyes snap open, only to be met by maroon ones filled with concern. "L-Leo!" she squeaks.

"Sakura…?" he mumbles.

Her hands move towards his face. "Y-you're crying," she says as her thumbs wipe the tears away. Leo wasn't even aware that he'd been crying. "Wh-what happened?"

"My father," says Leo, barely audible. It's hard to talk about how horrified he was, and how much he hurt – how much his own father made him bleed. However difficult, he tells Sakura every last detail of this nightmare. She responds by holding his hand, gently squeezing it whenever he gets choked up.

It's somewhat of a comfort through this haze of fear and sorrow he's currently experiencing. "…He raised his weapon at me one more time, and then I woke up." Leo sighed.

"W-wait… you didn't finish y-your dream?" she asks. He shakes his head. Is he supposed to? "You have to f-finish your dream, Leo. Ending right in the middle of it doesn't sound good at all."

"You don't understand," he tells her. "I can't do it. I won't do it. I don't want to dream about something so horrible… I mean, my own father? How does that happen, Sakura?"

"P-please, listen to me," she speaks. "You c-can't stay awake forever, the dream w-will come back. You h-have to finish it… a-and when you do, I'll be right here when you wake up, and we can talk about it if you want. You don't have to face them alone, o-okay?"

Once again, she never fails to put him at ease. The panic set in his chest is gone, and he feels like he's breathing somewhat easier now. "Okay," he says finally. "I trust you."

Her smile, as gentle as the way she rests her forehead on his own, makes his heart stir. He squeezes her hand, closes his eyes, and lets out a slow breath. The dreams won't get any less painful, but having Sakura by his side makes up for it.

During the first snowfall of the semester, Leo finds himself enjoying the company of all his roommates, something he hasn't done in quite a while. He listens to their conversations (some are casual while others are a bit raunchy) and throws in his two cents wherever he feels it's necessary.

Somehow, the moment they share is rather bittersweet. They don't have long to hang out like this before they all graduate, and Leo will truly miss moments like these. However, just the thought of admitting it to them leaves a terrible taste in his mouth. Especially since he knows how much they'll blow proper human emotions out of proportion.

"And I just want to point out that for Laslow's first time playing DnD, he was a natural," says Odin with a smile full of pride. "And you looked like you were having so much fun!"

"Oh, did you now?" asks Niles.

Laslow scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "I won't lie, I did have fun. It was a wrong move on my end to put off playing with you and everyone else for so long."

Leo lowers his book. "I didn't know you'd be interested in that sort of thing, Laslow. I'm a little surprised."

"Me too, actually," he says just before his phone buzzes on the coffee table before him. He reaches for it, and Leo watches as his eyes light up, as if he's remembered something important. "Oh yeah! I've got work to get done soon."

Niles scoffs. "Work? What work could you possibly need to get done?"

"For your information, I have a presentation to prepare for with Sakura, so butt out," Laslow grimaces before he turns to face Leo once more. "And speaking of Sakura, I know you said everything was alright between the two of you now, but I've been wondering how that happened for the longest time."

Leo's brow creases. "What do you mean? We just made up."

"Aww, now you're holding out on us!" Odin cried. "The freaky stuff with those bizarre dreams! What'd she say about those?"

Right. Leo knew he'd have to clear up the entire dream situation sooner or later, but how are his friends going to believe him when he says that this whole time, he's been dreaming of some sort of past life? He straightens up on the couch and closes his book. He opens his mouth to speak, but the words are so difficult to find. "Well…"

"Go on," Niles urges.

"I think you'll find it hard to believe if I tell you what Sakura told me," Leo says. "I mean, I almost didn't believe her at first."

Odin snorts. "Are you kidding? This is like something straight outta my paranormal comic books! If there's even the slightest chance something like this is real, I'm all for it."

"Yeah, because you also believe in stuff like aliens and Big Foot," Laslow comments offhandedly. Then his eyes widen. "Not that I think what whatever you have to say is untrue Leo!"

"It's fine, I took no offence by it," Leo says. Thinking back to the night he and Sakura made up, Leo doesn't know what to think about it. There's a sense of relief at the way things turned out of course, but he remembers how terribly confusion plagued his mind that night as well.

And of course there was the feeling of guilt when he found out how much grief he'd caused her, but Leo tries not to think about it anymore. "That night, when we spoke for the first time, she actually told me that she didn't have dreams like I did. In fact, she never dreamt of anything like that in her life."

Niles scratches his chin. "But couldn't it be that she just doesn't remember her dreams – oh wait. That whole thing with your brother. Never mind."

"Wait, then how is that possible?" Laslow asks. "She shouldn't know what's going on in your dreams, right?"

"See, that's where it gets weirder," Leo says. "When I expressed how confused I was, she was shocked, and then told me that my dreams were actually a reality."

The silence that envelops the room is nerve-racking, and Leo begins to wish he'd never said anything in the first place. Then Odin speaks up, "Woah, woah, woah, wait! You mean like the you now is some sort of reincarnation?"

That thought hadn't really occurred to him. Him? A reincarnation of Prince Leon? Leo had never even heard of a prince like that before his dreams. Is he in any history books? Maybe Xander can tell him something about this. "I… guess I am? That's what it sounds like, right?"

"But how do you know it's all true?" Laslow asks. "How'd she even get you to believe her? For someone like you, seeing is believing."

"All the signs were right in front of me though. Everything just clicked when she told me that I dreamt of a reality," he answers. It at least explains Sakura's actions when the two of them first met, and that whole name flub over the summer. "That, and it got even harder to ignore when she told me her brother had those dreams too, and confirmed when Xander looked so shocked when I brought it up a while ago."

"Xander knows about it too?" Niles cuts in quickly, and the surprise on his face is evident. "What kind of phenomenon is this?"

Leo shrugs. "Xander is actually looking into what causes the dreams and why certain people remember things while others don't. Since he wasn't able to talk about it freely without sounding weird, he wasn't really able to get far in his research."

Just as Laslow opens his mouth to speak, the alarm on his phone goes off, and he fumbles with it before he's able to turn it off. "I have to go meet up with Sakura," he says. "But you'll fill me in on everything when I get back, right?"

"Sure, I don't see why not," he says before watching Laslow gather all of his things and head out the door. As soon as he's gone, Odin quickly turns the conversation back to Leo's dreams.

"So, when you told us about the last time, you said we were all in it, right?" Odin says. "Tell me about it!"

"I'm not sure if I should tell you in detail," Leo warns him. "Xander told me that some dreams can be triggered by certain keywords or phrases. I don't want to burden you with that."

Odin shakes his head. "I don't mind at all! I'm dying to know what kind of guy I was in a past life. Were we close? Was I some type of royalty?"

His exuberance manages to make Leo smile. It couldn't hurt to give a bit of information. "We were close, yes. You were one of my retainers."

"A retainer? Like a… a servant?" Odin asks deflated, which causes Niles to snicker.

"Something like that, so I don't think you were any type of royalty," Leo says. "You were much weirder in my dreams… and you spoke funny. But I could always rely on you… though, you did kind of show up out of nowhere. You and Laslow both, from what I can remember through conversation."

"Wow, you sound real shady," Niles chuckles, much to Odin's annoyance. "So what about me? I don't see myself being much of a prince or anything like that. So what was I up to in that war?"

The thought of Niles' past life compared to his current self is so uncanny. "Well, you were also a retainer of mine. You were missing an eye though, and you used to be a thief."

Through Odin's cackling, Niles mumbles, "A thief, huh? Sounds like a 'me' thing to do."

At least he knew.

"What else did I do?" Niles asks.

"…We had a talk about how we first met. Apparently you broke into the palace with some friends, but they left you as a decoy. And for your punishment, I was to execute you."

Odin and Niles both grimace. "So then… why didn't you?" Niles asks. "It doesn't make sense to keep me alive after that."

"See, I thought the same thing. But when you asked me to kill you, I was interested in why you didn't beg for your life, for some reason," Leo explains. "So, I didn't go through with it. I… or rather, Leon works in weird ways. I can hardly understand him."

As Niles thinks on the information he's been given Odin speaks up again. "So, is it impossible for me to ask you what kind of person Sakura was in a past life?"

It's easy to assume what kind of person Sakura was. Leo's sure she was as gentle as she was sweet. The kind words she gave to Corrin at the banquet despite her troubling situation proved that. She showed tremendous inner strength during the battle at Fort Jinya, and she was certainly compassionate, wanting to heal those wounded soldiers despite being a prisoner.

With the little times they'd interacted, he can easily see what kind of person Sakura was in her past live, and yet at the same time, he feels as if he's barely scratched the surface of her character. He remembers brushing off the thought of the two of them fighting side by side in another life as wishful thinking, but now he truly wishes things could have worked out like that.

It would have saved her a lot of pain, he's sure, and it would have given him the chance to learn more about her in their past life, and he could enjoy learning about her all over again in their current life.

Finally, he says, "Yeah, I couldn't tell you what she was like. Not properly anyway."

And it's quite a shame.

When Leo thinks of going on a date with Sakura, he can so clearly picture the two of them being as close as they were during Xander's wedding, or how much they laughed together when he'd taken her out for sweets for her birthday. The reality of their first official date is her standing at least a foot away from him, unwilling to make an effort to move.

Last week, when he proposed that they go out on a date, Sakura seemed so enthusiastic about it, especially when he suggested ice skating. Her smile had been so radiant that day when she said the words, "I'd love to." It's only after they enter the skating rink that Leo realizes Sakura doesn't know how to skate since she looks like a newborn deer trying to stand for the first time.

He signals for her to come to him, but when she raises a shaky leg as if she's going to take a step, Leo skates over to her instead and holds her steady. "You are something else, you know that?" Leo says. He wants to keep a straight face, but the look of relief on Sakura's face when he steadies her forces him to crack a smile.

"I'm s-sorry…" she mumbles.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't know how to skate?" he asks. "We could've done something else instead."

Sakura begins to fiddle with the hem of her coat. "W-well, when you suggested going ice skating, you looked so excited. I… I didn't want to take that from you." Leo sighs. Sakura's always thinking of everyone but herself. Just once, she could try being a little more selfish. "Oh, a-and I wouldn't mind learning…"

"Really now?"

She nods before adding hurriedly, "B-but only if I get to hold onto the wall first!"

A small chuckle escapes him, and he moves to take hold of Sakura's hand. "Alright, we can do that."

"And you'll keep holding my hand, r-right?" Sakura asks, grabbing the wall's railing as soon as she's able to.

"For now, yes," Leo says, and Sakura looks absolutely terrified. "Well how are you supposed to learn if I held your hand the entire time, Sakura?"

"B-but if I did know how to skate, we still would have held hands the entire time, w-wouldn't we?"

Although she makes a very good point, Sakura had already expressed wanting to learn. Leo would be a terrible teacher if he held her hand every step of the way, despite wanting to. When he argues his point, she sighs, and mumbles something about not wanting to learn anymore.

It's a little too late for that now.

As they skate along the wall of the ice rink, Sakura asks Leo how he even learned to skate in the first place. He smiles. "What? Doesn't seem like something boring old Leo would be into?"

She shakes her head. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Sheesh… when you say it like that, it sounds pretty mean…"

"I'm only teasing, Sakura," Leo says. "I actually learned to skate when I was fairly young. Camilla taught me back when I still lived with my mother." Garon would take Leo on the weekends, and Leo remembers how much he preferred being with his father than his mother. He could spent time with his older siblings, and Garon would sometimes take them out to see a show or to a restaurant for dinner.

Things over at his father's home just felt more tightknit and comfortable – like how a true family is supposed to feel.

"Did they take pictures of you skating?" Sakura asks. She lets out a small giggle when Leo nods. "I wish I could see them."

Maybe one day, if he introduces her to the rest of his family, Camilla would take it upon herself to show Sakura their entire family album. They'd all love her, he's certain of it, but Leo wonders how long it would take Sakura to be truly comfortable around them after all that's happened in their past life – especially his father.

The grip on her hand becomes firmer, and Sakura looks at him with concern in her eyes. "Is something wrong, Leo?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing…" he tells her.

Sakura looks a tad skeptical of him. "Are you sure?"

"Of course," he says. "Actually, I was thinking it's time we move away from the wall."

"Wh-what?" she asks as Leo moves to stand before her, taking both of her hands in his own. "B-but I'm not ready yet!"

Despite her protests, Leo guides her around the rink, making sure not to get too close to any of the walls. They spend a considerable amount of time at the skating rink, and don't leave until Sakura can actually skate to him without falling on her butt. She's now able to say that she's learned how to skate, even if she still is very wobbly.

As the two of them sit on the bench to take off their skates, Sakura says that next time, she'll be able to skate without falling.

"Next time?" Leo asks. "So you did enjoy yourself. What happened to 'I never want to do this again' huh?"

She gives him a sheepish smile, and her cheeks redden just slightly. "I'd like to do this again. I had so much fun today, e-even if I did fall a couple of times."

The two of them begin to laugh, which Leo is grateful for, because he's sure he'd have made her cry if he laughed as soon as she hit the ice. When their laughter dies down, Leo dons a more serious expression as he takes hold of Sakura's hand. For once, he's got the warmer hands between the two of them.

"If I asked you on another date, what would you say?"

He can tell that he's caught her off guard with the way her eyes widen in surprise. Her gaze softens, and the corners of her mouth tug upwards into a gentle smile. "I'd say yes… in a heartbeat."

"And if I told you that I wanted to be your boyfriend?" he asks as he wraps his arm around her waist.

"What would you say then?"

"I would…" her voice trails off, and Leo can see how quickly her eyes lose their heartfelt gaze. "I'd ask you if you were sure… b-being with some like me."

It pains him to see Sakura always so down on herself. Why can't she see just how amazing of a person she is? "I think that's my line. I'm not one to play silly little games, you should know this by now. I really do like you, Sakura. I have for a while now."

She closes her eyes momentarily, and takes a steady breath in, and then out. When she opens her eyes, she still looks… uncertain. "I like you too, Leo. I just… n-nothing like this has ever happened to me before, s-so I'm not sure if I'd be any good at this…"

Not even in her past life? Leo thinks. How peculiar. He's sure she'd have a couple suitors ready to take her hand in marriage, either for political reasons or for the fact that she's simply lovely. "If we feel the same way about each other, then what's stopping us, Sakura?"

"If… if you're as serious about me as you say… then I'm yours," she says so tenderly, and that heartfelt look in her eyes returns once more.

Upon hearing those words, Leo's heart pounds against his chest rapidly. "Finally," he wants to cry out, but his mouth makes no movements to do so. Instead, he lets go of her hand to rest on the side of her face as he leans into her. His eyes close, his lips part ever so slightly, and when he presses them against hers, all he can think is finally.

It's slow and chaste. It's sweet, and Leo can't help but smile and pull away to chuckle when he can feel that Sakura has no idea where she should be putting her hands. After she gets over the shock of her first kiss, a giggle bubbles up from the pit of her stomach, and the two of them can't stop laughing.

"One… one more time," Sakura says quietly with flushed cheeks. "I want to try one more time."

A small laugh leaves his lips before he gently brushes his hand against the side of her face, and leans in to kiss her a second time. This time, her hands have securely found a place on his chest while his free hand rests on her waist. If she's as keen on learning to kiss as she is skating, Leo can definitely get used to this.

Garon is as fair skinned as Leo is. He's a big, burly man who, with calloused hands, works hard to provide for his children. The wrinkles under his eyes and around his lips have become visible now, and they deepen with each rich bout of laughter he gives. He looks exactly how he's supposed to, and yet, there's an eerie feeling in the pit of Leo's stomach every time he looks at his father.

Although he knows how silly he's being, his anxiety keeps him wondering if at any moment he decides to look away, his father will turn into that disgusting slime monster that continues to haunt him. There's always that steady breath of relief when Leo looks into Garon's home office, or in the living room and sees that his father isn't a monster with his mind and soul still intact.

Just looking at him sit on the couch opposite of him keeps him calm.

"Leo, why are you staring at me?" Garon asks his youngest son with a creased brow. The question breaks his concentration, and partially startles him. Leo doesn't mean to stare, but he can't help it. An irrational part of him is so sure that his father will become the soulless shell of a man he loves and respects.

But there's no way on earth he can convey this to someone who probably doesn't know what happened in his own past life, and for his father's sake, Leo would like to keep it that way. "Uh, I… wasn't aware that I was staring, Father. I'm sorry."

Garon lets out a low laugh. "Heh, finals must've hit you hard this time around. You seem tired."

"A little," Leo says. "But as usual, it's nothing that I can't handle."

"That's my boy," Garon smiles, and a feeling of pride gently washes over him. There is no fussing or theatrics to it. He says it with such genuine confidence, because he's confident in Leo's abilities, and this in turn makes Leo smile as well. "You should get going to bed. Camilla's been talking about wanting to go Christmas shopping tomorrow."

With the way she is, they'd need to wake up at the crack of dawn.

Leo removes himself from the couch, wishes his father a good night, and makes his way to his bedroom, where he lies on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He wonders why that dream of his father bothers him so much. It's been a while since he's had it – late October if he remembers correctly.

Since then, Leo has already dreamt of the end of the war. Relief and joy. Those are the feelings he remembers swirling around in Leon's chest at Marx's coronation. They're the same feelings that fill Leo's chest as well when he remembers Sakura's lovely smile at the event. The dreams don't come anymore. Not since that day.

He's been getting a good night's sleep lately. The only dreams Leo ever gets anymore are strange, and all he can remember are bits and pieces of them when he wakes up – just like normal dreams. Most of the time, all he remembers is that he's had one, and every detail of the dream is long forgotten.

Leo closes his eyes and breathes outwards slowly. Sleepiness begins to creep up on him seemingly out of nowhere, and when he awakens, he notices that the sky is still dark. Still, he feels well-rested enough to bathe, dress himself and head down to the courtyard. Despite his duties, there's enough time to have a look around in the castle's rose garden – it soothes him.

Just as Leo passes the throne room, his brother's voice, laced in astonishment, catches his attention. There's a silence so troubling that Leo almost walks into the throne room to check, but Xander's dismissal of one of their servants causes him to hold off on doing so for just a bit longer.

"Marx," Leo speaks. As he stands before the new king, Leo can see the distraught look on his face so clearly.

"Ah, Leon," he manages a smile. "Good morning to you."

He nods. "Good morning to you as well. If I may ask Marx, is everything alright?"

His brother straightens his posture on the throne, and gives a heavy sigh. "No, everything is not fine. I've just received word that a terrible tragedy has befallen the people of Hoshido."

Leo's eyes widen slightly. What could possibly be wrong with Hoshido now? The war between them has been over for many months now. "What's happened to the people of Hoshido?" Leo inquires.

"…Please don't let this get to Corrin. At least, not yet," Xander says, and all Leo can do is nod his head. "The Hoshidans… they've lost their princess."

Lost their princess?

Lost her in what way? Has she gone missing? Kidnapped? Leo's not sure that they have the funds to aid them in after such an expensive war. "What… happened to the princess?"

"I was told that she'd been missing one morning," Xander explains. "The royal guards scoured the entire place looking for her, only for them to find her body at the shallow end of a river…"

Xander's lips keep moving, but Leo can't hear a word he's saying anymore. There's a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if bile threatens to make its way past his throat and out of his mouth. His pupils are dilated, sweat dampens his forehead, and his fingers are trembling – out of what, he isn't sure.

The only word that slips through his dry lips are a soft, incredulous sounding, "What?"

But the question is never answered. Marx is no longer there, and Leo is himself again. Once the realization hits him, tears fall freely as he sits up in bed, attempting to put all the pieces together, and when he does, a rage like no other surges through him. Leo asked Xander if Sakura was okay, and Xander told him nothing. He couldn't even spare a single tip.

And Sakura… she knew all this would happen. She knew it, and all she ever gave him was that "let the dreams run their course" bullshit. Is he not allowed to know? Not allowed to care about what went on in their past life? How could the two of them withhold information like that?

Apart of him wants to grab his phone and call her at this ridiculous hour in the morning to ask her just what her problem was. Another part of him doesn't want anything to do with her at the moment. Nothing at all. And through his silent rage, Leo can't help but wonder if he's just one of the many reasons they found her at the shallow end of the river.

His hands clutch his hair, and he begins to grit his teeth. His toes begin to curl into the fabric of his sheets, and for a while, Leo stays in that position, left to think about how Sakura felt as she plunged into the river.

The thought is maddening.