Am I sane?

Did I really just… walk to him and invite him here?

"Yes, you did. Now, keep your cool and do what Caraway did in Chapter 3."

Wait, what? What am I thinking about? And what is this chapter 3 anyway?

-Julia's monologue

Julia pranced around the room, wondering if Laguna would come.

Calm down, Julia. Relax. Compose yourself. This is like playing the piano. Relax before your play. She stared at her reflection across the mirror in the room. Julia knew she was a beautiful woman. She wasn't vain about it. I look presentable. No need to worry about.

Knock knock. "Julia, Mr. Laguna Loire is here."

Showtime. "Just a second."

Julia opened the door to see Laguna tower above her. He too, looked shy and unsure. "Come in."

"Thank you." She ushered him inside and closed the door behind them.

"please take a sit" she offered the seat across the room, but in his distress, Laguna sat on her bed.

"Oh, er, sorry!" He immediately jumped off the bed and ran to the chair.

She giggled. What was she going to do? Both of them were nervous. She caught a glimpse of a wine bottle she was certain to have never put there. Hugo.

"Would you like for a glass of wine?"

"Yeah."

Julia opened the bottle and poured two glasses of wine. She offered him a glass as he stared outside the window.

"The view here is nice!" Laguna exclaimed.

Julia arched a brow. "Just nice?"

"I mean, it's great!" he corrected. "The view's really nice-er great! I mean, you can actually see all the pretty lights in Deling City! Ah, look at the Great Arch! It's so majestic! And what about the Presidential Mansion? Wow, that looks so cool! Man, Kiros and Ward should definitely see this!"

He was starting to loosen up.

Then her comment suddenly came out of nowhere, like a Fomb committing suicide. "You know, I've always liked your hair."

"what?" Did I hear that correctly? She actually likes my… hair?

Julia coughed. "I know that was off topic. I just couldn't resist telling you."

"There's nothing pretty about it."

But Julia shook her head. "It's so shiny. Can I touch it? Oh wow, it's silky smooth too!" Without warning, she reached out and combed through the strands of his dark brown hair. "What do you use on it?"

"It's not silky-" Laguna combed and suddenly was aware for the first time that his hair was smooth and silky. Just as she claimed. "It must be the soap I bought from Dr. Kadowasaki in Balamb."

"Balamb? Isn't that across the sea?"

Laguna nodded. "That was my first area of assignment. I met Kiros and Ward there. They were the guys with me earlier. Most of my classmates were deployed to Dollet or Timber. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the soap." Laguna closed his eyes and tried to recall the day he met the Doctor. "I was strolling around town when this cute looking boutique shop caught my eye. It was owned by Dr. Kadowasaki, ah no. She wasn't a doctor back then. She was saving money to take the licensure exam. She was selling her recently concocted soap recipe to raise funds. Told me it was good for the hair. I bought 2 boxes from her. each box had 50 soap bars. A bar cost 500 Gil."

"50,000 Gil? You're quite a rich man Laguna."

Laguna grinned. "Well, I saved enough. And I figured if I could help someone reach their dreams, I might as well help them. I heard Kadowasaki passed the Licensure exam and is practicing in Balamb. Isn't that cool?"

"Yes it is." she agreed. "You certainly meet a lot of interesting people, don't you?"

Laguna nodded. "I also met this woman in Balamb. She wouldn't tell me her real name, except for a moniker she used.. what was it….it was Queen! The Queen of Cards!"

"You mean, Monica?"

"How do you know her name?"

"Well, I challenged her to a Triple Triad Game to tell me her real name." She answered as a matter of fact. " and I won."

Laguna's gaped. "So you're the woman she was referring to!"

Julia laughed, recalling the time she had challenged a haughty Monica and thoroughly beating her. "What did she say about me?"

"She was training to be become the Ultimate Queen of Cards to beat some Piano Lady."

"She was such a sore loser." Julia flicked her hair. "Tell me more about the people you met."

And so, Laguna obliged her, narrating the people he met, the places he visited, and most important, how these experiences impacted him as a person.

"I like to travel. It changes you, Julia. I mean, you get to reflect why they think like that. You get to compare your culture and their culture. That's one of the privileges of being in the military. You get to see a lot places and meet new people. It's something I'd want to do full time. Hey, I wanna tell you a secret. I might retire from the military in two years time. I just want to roam the world and write about my experiences."

"have you already written about it?"

"Yep. Some of my works are published in the Galbadia Gazette. I go by a pseudonym though."

"Let me guess. The Lagooner?"

Laguna snapped his finger. "You… you actually read my work?"

"Works." She corrected. "Hugo is a fan of your articles."

Laguna blushed. "Oh, uhm thanks." Silence filled the room. "You know, I've been talking a lot."

She agreed with him. "But I enjoy listening to you."

"Why don't you tell me about your dreams, Julia?" he asked her.

Julia felt her heart thump. She stood from her chair and approached the window, turning her back from Laguna, not wanting him to see the vulnerability in her eyes.

"I.. I want to be a singer." She confessed. " I don't just want to sing songs. I want to compose and sing my own songs."

"That's a beautiful and worthy dream, you should go for it!" Laguna gently encouraged her.

Julia clenched the window pane. "…I'm scared, Laguna. I… I have, no I had no idea on what song I would write."

"You're scared of what?" he probed.

"I'm scared that my songs won't reflect what I truly feel."

Laguna approached, grasping her shoulders and faced her. "I don't know if I should be doing this. Holding you like this. But here's what I want to tell you—Give yourself a chance to create. Give your songs a chance to be written. We all deserve a chance to something we want for."

Julia looked into his green eyes, and for the first time, wanted to do something outrageous. Yes, Give yourself a chance, Julia.

"I think I've found it, Laguna."

"Found what?"

"I've found my inspiration to write my song-you."

His eyes widened in amazement. "Me?"

"Yes, you." She repeated. "When you look at me like this, when you look at me with your eyes, I'm reminded of the many faces of expressions you've shown me. I've found the inspiration to create a song to reflect what it means to love and experience life…. and what it means to love. Yes, I think I can write a song."

Laguna was flattered. Hyne, don't let this be a dream. " I want to listen to your song." He told her. "I know it will be beautiful, and I know it will touch the hearts of many people."

"Laguna, I—"

Julia was unable to finish her confession when Kiros' voice boomed from the opposite side of the door. "Laguna! I'm sorry to disrupt your moment with Ms. Julia, but we have new orders! Assemble at the Presidential Masion ASAP!"

What bad luck. "Laguna, can we meet again?"

He held her hand gently. "Of course, we will! I have to listen to you sing, remember?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Laguna!" Kiros bellowed. "

"Wait, I'm coming!" he shouted back and started to reach for the door knob.

Julia hands reached for Laguna's arm. "Laguna, wait."

He whirled and suddenly felt her soft lips on his, her lips as sweet as honey and the wine they drank. Shyly, Julia broke the kiss and lovingly gazed at him. "It's for good luck."

Stupified and speechless, Laguna was acutely aware of the sensations she aroused in him. He wasn't going to allow himself to leave without giving her something. Perhaps, a token. A promise that he would go back for her. Carefully, he removed the necklace around his neck. Julia saw a single silver band of ring strung through the necklace. He gathered it into his hand pressed it into her open palm.

"After we graduate from the Military Academy, each soldier is given this Ring. This ring is only given by the military to the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with." he looked directly at her brown eyes."Julia, I want to be part of your life. I want to know you more. I promise I'll return to you after this mission."

Julia looked at the shining ring then fixed her gaze back to him. "I'll be waiting."

Laguna smiled and this time, took the initiative to kiss her. She responded, savoring the sensation of his lips, and his warmth, remembering this moment in time. For unknown to her and the man she admired, that morning was the last time she would spend with him.

Laguna Loire, twenty seven years old Galbadian solider, was deployed to inspect an ancient Centra site and never returned to see her again.

Author's Note:

This chapter was difficult to write. I had no idea what my version for their conversation would be. I imagined what they could have talked about and just... wrote it!

I certainly had fun finishing this.

Since I was involved with a military man, I incorporated some of my personal experiences in this story (the story of the ring, and how he promised to return to her but never did)

Next chapter: What will Fury Caraway do when he learns he has a rival for Julia's affections?

Stay tuned!