Annora looked up to the sky, her hands going into her pockets as she walked aimlessly through Daybreak Town. It was early morning, earlier than anyone in the party ever seemed to be active. The sun was just beginning to cast a pink glow to the sky as it peaked over the horizon. The clouds that streaked the sky mirrored the shade of pink, contrasting starkly against the pale blue morning sky.

Annora was often up at dawn walking through town. It was a time when there were hardly any others on the streets and no missions had yet been assigned. It was the perfect time of day for Annora to clear her head. That way when she met with the party at noon she wouldn't be so worried about anything. She'd have a solution already and planned out.

They had been fortunate so far. Though they received some harassment from other wielders there had been nothing from the Foretellers. The three lieutenants involved had even said their masters approved of the party. But Annora didn't know if that was because of their own beliefs, or if it was because of the trust they had in their lieutenants. Annora knew Master Ira wasn't happy about it. Adiana had taken to giving Annora harder missions to try and delay her. Annora had done her best to avoid that stopping her.

Annora was so caught up in her thoughts she had stopped paying attention to where she was walking. Her eyes remained on the sky as she watched the stars slowly blink out and the sun replace them. This wasn't a problem until Annora walked straight into another person sending both tumbling to the ground.

Annora groaned as she pushed herself into a sitting position. She had fallen flat on her back and she could already feel the twinge where the bruises would form. She glanced up to the other she had run into. It was a girl, somewhere close to her age from appearance. She had bright orange hair tied into low twin tails with red ribbons. She wore a white dress with black lining the top and her unconnected sleeves were held in place with black x's. Her white boots went up to her thighs. Annora tried to look at her eyes, but the girl was keeping her gaze on the ground, not looking up at Annora.

"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to knock you over," Annora said giving a nervous chuckle. The orange haired girl didn't look up.

"I-it's f-fine," she said. Her voice was so quiet for a moment Annora wasn't even sure she had spoken. Annora leaned forward just slightly trying to get a better look at her face. What little bit of her face Annora could see was taking on a red tinge.

"Are you ok? Your face is kinda red. Are you sick?" Annora asked. The girl began to speak, but it was lost on Annora. It sounded like she would start with one word and transfer to another halfway through. She repeated herself a few times, and her voice steadily lost volume as she went on. It wasn't long before she was silently staring at the ground, her face clearly beat red. Annora smiled softly, the girl wasn't sick. Just nervous.

"You don't have to be nervous. I don't bite," Annora said, smiling at the girl. She didn't say anything in return, only continued to stare at the ground. Annora dropped her smile and leaned forward a little more. "I swear whatever Kariya told you about me he was just joking. He thinks it's funny to scare people," Annora said softly hoping to coax the girl into laughing. It weighed heavy in her chest that this girl was so quiet. She was worried she had upset the girl somehow. "Ok, usually that gets people to laugh," Annora muttered crossing her arms and tapping her chin.

"Strelitzia! Strelitzia, where did you go!?" Annora jumped hearing the young man's voice call out. Or at least she assumed it was a young man. The orange haired girl jumped as well turning to face the sound of his voice. Annora was surprised to be able to see her face. The girl had wide green eyes that caught the morning sunlight like a shallow pool of seawater. In simple words, Annora found her eyes breathtaking.

"So, your names Strelitzia?" Annora asked. The girl nodded, not looking at Annora. Annora took the opportunity to look at the girl closer. She was extremely pretty. Her long lashes cast shadows on her cheeks, her skin was smooth and looked to be without flaw. Annora was sure if she looked hard enough there would be a flaw, but she also knew she wouldn't think of it as a flaw.

"Huh," Annora said shaking her head. She really hoped the girl hadn't noticed her staring. She pushed herself to her feet and brushed herself off, watching Strelitzia who was still looking toward where the voice had called from. Annora cupped her hands around her mouth before yelling. "Hey, she's over here!"

Strelitzia tensed up, her skin turning pale in seconds. Annora frowned looking down at her. She hoped this wasn't someone Strelitzia was running from. She hadn't stopped to think that might have been the case.

Before Annora could ask a young man came down the street. He wore formal looking black clothes and a concerned expression. He had layered pink hair that reached nearly his shoulders. His eyes were blue, much like the color the sky was taking on at the moment. Annora had hardly noticed the suns movement, she had been too busy watching Strelitzia. The young man that had arrived smiled seeing Strelitzia on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He asked, kneeling beside Strelitzia. Strelitzia looked away from him, looking down at the ground.

"I-I'm f-fine," Strelitzia said. The young man laughed slightly and held out his hand to Strelitzia.

"Really? So you're on the ground for fun then?" he asked as Strelitzia took his hand. Strelitzia glared at him, her cheeks puffing up.

"Lauriam!" she said. He chuckled pulling her to her feet. He glanced at Annora, keeping his calm smile.

"You should thank this young lady. I probably wouldn't have found you if she hadn't called out to me," Lauriam, as Strelitzia had identified him, said. Strelitzia went from pale to beat red in only a few seconds.

"I-I didn't need your help. I-I was fine," Strelitzia insisted. She turned her back on Lauriam, turning to face Annora. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but froze. She closed her mouth again and turned walking briskly away, her head once again going down. Annora frowned watching her. She felt her chest tighten up, and she wanted to follow the girl to be sure she was alright. A sigh from Lauriam caught her attention before she could follow.

"I'm sorry about my sister, she's actually rather shy," Lauriam said. Annora nodded looking back to Lauriam. She supposed it made sense, them being siblings. It definitely calmed her worries about the man.

"No, it's not a big deal. I just wanted to be sure she was ok, I knocked into her and then she wouldn't talk," Annora said rubbing her shoulder. Lauriam smiled and laughed softly. He looked down, staring at the ground.

"That's just like her," Lauriam said. He glanced up, looking up at Annora. He stared at her for a moment, Annora could watch the gears turn in his head through his blue eyes. "You're the girl who started the cross union party, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Annora agreed without taking a moment to think. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at Lauriam, taking a step back. "Why?" She asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to condemn you. I think it's a lovely idea, though I wouldn't be one to participate myself," Lauriam said calmly. Annora lost her glare, tilting her head to the side.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I've never been one for parties, I don't care much for that entire system," Lauriam explained. Annora nodded. She glanced down the street, almost hoping she could see a bit of orange hair around the corner.

"Oh, and Strelitzia?" she asked. Lauriam sighed again, his head dropping.

"I've been trying to convince her to join that party of yours, but she always gets nervous before she can talk to anyone about it," he said. Annora frowned and crossed her arms.

"Well, she doesn't have to be nervous. Maybe she could try talking to Ven. He's really nice and not all that intimidating," Annora suggested. Lauriam looked up with a quirked eyebrow.

"Ven?" he asked.

"Little kid, blonde spiky hair, holds his keyblade backward. He's in Vulpes if that will help you find him," Annora listed off. Lauriam nodded, crossing his arms and tapping his chin. It struck Annora that she had no idea what union Lauriam and his sister were in. Or even if they were in the same union.

"Hm, I'll try to suggest it to her. Thank you," Lauriam said before Annora could ask. Depending on their union they might get problems when trying to join the party.

"No problem. I hope I get to see your sister pretty soon then," Annora said.

"I hope so as well," Lauriam said with his signature soft smile. He gave a nod before walking off, heading into town the direction Strelitzia had gone. Annora sighed putting her hands into her pockets. She looked up to the sky smiling softly. She really hoped she could see Strelitzia. She seemed like such a sweet girl.

It was still too early in the day for Annora to meet the party. But if she was lucky Adiana would be awake, which would mean she'd be able to get her mission for the day. That way that would be done by the time Annora was to meet the party. Without much more thought Annora set off into the town. Today was looking rather bright.

*<3*

"I see now why you admire that girl so much. Annora right?" Lauriam asked as he sat down beside his sister on the roof of one of the buildings surrounding the fountain square. He had given her space for a few hours. It was now drawing closer to noon. The square beneath them was filled with people, among them he could pick out Annora's white hair.

"What did you say to her!?" Strelitzia asked, turning to face him quickly. Her hair whipping so fast it hit him with more force than he thought possible.

"Don't worry, I didn't mention how you've been stalking her," Lauriam said brushing off her concern with a smile. Strelitzia turned a shade of scarlet crossing her arms.

"It's not stalking!" Strelitzia said turning to look away. Lauriam chuckled as he saw where her eyes went. Right to Annora who was standing in front of a group doing what looked like a roll call.

"I'm only teasing. She's a very kind girl, with quite the strong heart. I'm sure Master Ava has noticed," Lauriam said. He watched as Annora tapped the head of each of her party members, her hand going over the head of the twin lieutenants. Kamiko smiled brightly. Surely she had invited Annora to the Dandelions. If he were in her position he'd ensure all his friends could escape.

"But, I've never once seen her at one of the gatherings. What if she's not a Dandelion? I don't want her to have to die in the war," Strelitzia said. Her voice had gone quiet. Hardly above a whisper. It often did when she spoke of the war they knew was to come.

"I know," he said. "Maybe you should try joining that party of hers, then you'll get the chance to talk to her. Maybe slip it into a conversation somewhere," he suggested glancing back to Strelitzia. She frowned burrowing down into her crossed arms as if trying to disappear.

"But I can't talk to her. Every time I try I get so nervous my words just fumble together. You know I can only talk to you and Chirithy without freaking out," Strelitzia said. Her face was a glowing red as if just thinking about having to talk to Annora was enough to cause her to panic.

"Well, you talked to Master Ava that one time, right?" Lauriam asked. Strelitzia nodded slowly.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"It can't be more difficult than talking to one of the Foretellers," Lauriam said. Strelitzia didn't react to his words. Her eyes had glazed over as she stared out over the square. Lauriam sighed and looked up at the sky. "I mentioned you were interested in the party. She suggested trying to talk to Ven, I assume you know which one that is," he said.

"Yeah, he's one of the ones from Vulpes," Strelitzia answered without hesitating. Lauriam glanced at her, wondering if it was only Annora she was interested in.

"So will you try?" He asked. He glanced back to the party, seeing them shove each other around in good nature. Annora laughed as she glanced up to the roof. She caught sight of Strelitzia and Lauriam, her blue eyes lighting up the moment she saw them. She offered a friendly wave before turning back to her friends.

"Yeah, I'll try."

Our paths crossed many times, but we never seemed to see each other. Maybe it was because I was always looking up, and you were always looking down.