Annora sat beside Skuld in the fountain plaza. It was the easiest place for them to meet, even though they were almost always surrounded by other wielders passing through. Annora had learned to ignore the glares she received over the past few weeks.

Things had only gotten worse between the unions since the fight between the Foretellers. Unions fought at every turn. Only Dandelions seemed to think it wasn't worth fighting. Dandelions and Annora anyway.

"This is terrible. I wish there was a way to stop all of these fights I've been seeing around." Skuld said, leaning back and looking at the sky with a sad frown. Annora followed her gaze, watching the clouds drift across the sky.

"Yeah." Annora agreed. She suddenly sat bolt upright. "That's it!" She said.

"What?" Skuld asked, looking at her white-haired friend in confusion. Annora jumped to her feet, turning to face Skuld directly.

"I have an idea! I have an idea!" Annora said happily. Skuld laughed at Annora's childish excitement. She had hardly ever seen Annora behave like that.

"What!?" Skuld asked again, laughing slightly.

"Uniting the unions," Annora said simply. Skuld tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What if we form a party that doesn't care what union you're in?" Annora continued. Skuld frowned.

"Wouldn't that count as an alliance?" She asked worriedly. Annora rolled her eyes at the suggestion.

"No, it's not everyone from one union teaming up with everyone from another. It's a group of friends joining together to gather lux." Annora said as if it were an obvious answer. Skuld continued to frown, still unconvinced by Annora's reasoning.

"I don't know. It seems really close to an alliance." Skuld said calmly. Annora gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Who cares?" Annora asked. Skuld jumped and looked at her in surprise. "The Master of Masters isn't here anymore so let's just do it!" Annora insisted. Skuld stood and faced Annora on eye level, trying not to have to look up to her.

"Annora, this is dangerous," Skuld said simply. Annora huffed in annoyance. She really loved Skuld, but she was worrying too much. That wasn't something that was normal for her friend. Skuld was almost as bad as Ephemer had been. Annora was wondering what had changed, but she pushed the thought back.

"Stop worrying. We don't have time to be worrying about every little rule." Annora said. Skuld sighed and smiled softly, seeing she couldn't sway her.

"Who would you get to join?" Skuld asked. Annora stepped back and crossed her arms, looking at the sky in thought.

"Well, I'd be a member, so that would cover Unicornis. You'd be a member, so that's Ursus. Then, the Anguis lieutenant owes me a favor, and I bet his sister will join too." Annora listed off.

"So that's Anguis and Vulpes. But what about Leopardus, since you're aiming for one from each union?" Skuld asked. Annora shrugged.

"I have no clue. But it doesn't matter. We have a start. Come on." Annora said, taking off. Skuld watched her with a smile and shake of her head. Skuld followed after her much slower.

It only took Annora a few minutes to find the twins. That was surprising to Skuld, who assumed they would be off doing missions or helping their Foretellers. Not wandering the city together.

"Takiko!" Annora called out. Takiko and Kamiko stopped. Takiko looked up at the sky and sighed heavily before turning to face Annora. He looked surprised when he caught sight of her.

"What?" Takiko asked, trying to hide the surprise in his voice with annoyance.

"You said when I thought of a way to change things you'd help me right?" Annora said. Takiko frowned and crossed his arms.

"It seems a little late to be devising a plan to me." Takiko said. Kamiko elbowed his side harshly, glaring at her brother.

"Shut up and hear her out," Kamiko said. She looked to Annora with a bright smile that filled Annora with warmth.

"Thanks," Annora said. Kamiko nodded with her smile remaining. "I want to form a cross-union party." Annora continued. Takiko and Kamiko both stayed silent. Looking between each other with looks that seemed to contain entire conversations.

"Is that even possible?" Takiko said, turning to Annora. Annora shrugged, much like she had when Skuld had asked. She glanced over her shoulder to see Skuld watching with her arms crossed.

"Who cares? Are you in?" Annora asked. Takiko sighed heavily.

"I-" Takiko began. He was cut off by his sister.

"We're in." Kamiko said. Takiko looked at her in disbelief and something close to betrayal.

"Great! Do you have any friends in Leopardus who might join?" Annora asked, smiling proudly. Kamiko began to think, tapping her chin.

"Wait-" Takiko began to object. Once again his sister stopped him from getting too far.

"I could probably convince Jax." Kamiko said. Takiko looked at his sister in disbelief.

"There's no way-" Takiko began. This time Annora stopped him from continuing.

"Good. I'm going to announce it tomorrow. If you're in, meet me in the fountain square at noon." Annora said, still beaming. Kamiko returned the smile with her own bright smile.

"Deal," Kamiko said.

"I still don't think-" Takiko tried to object one more time. Kamiko elbowed him again.

"Shut up and stop complaining," Kamiko said jokingly. Takiko shot her a glare but didn't argue again.

*<3*

After Kamiko and Takiko split off from Annora they went searching for Jax. Takiko wasn't trying very hard, just aimlessly following his sitter rather than actually try. Despite Takiko's unhelpfulness, Kamiko found Jax before the day was up.

"Kamiko, what do I owe the pleasure?" Jax asked, not looking up from a stack of papers he was carrying. Kamiko wasn't sure how he could tell it was her but she decided not to ask.

"We're forming a cross-union party and need a Leopardus to kick it off. Are you in?" Kamiko asked, placing a hand on her hip. Behind her, Takiko rolled his eyes.

"Keep in mind yes means yes and no also means yes," Takiko said sarcastically. Jax glanced up at him warily.

"I take it you were forced in." Jax said calmly. Takiko nodded.

"Owe the leader a favor." He said. He stepped back just as Kamiko went to elbow him. She glared at him over her shoulder. Takiko looked at her innocently.

"Shut up." She hissed at Takiko. He rolled his eyes but didn't object. "So are you in?" Kamiko asked, returning her gaze to Jax. Jax chuckles in amusement and shook his head at the twins antics.

"Sure, what could possibly go wrong?" Jax replied.

"Everything," Takiko answered. Kamiko glared at her brother again. He had a point, but she didn't need to hear that. She'd rather keep the optimism that Annora had displayed. She wanted this to work so badly.

"Shut up," Kamiko said softly. Takiko gave a sad smile to his sister.

*<3*

Annora paced around nervously, wringing her hands as she walked. Skuld was close to her, watching in concern. Takiko was leaning against a wall with his sister standing beside him. Jax was sitting on a window sill, his aqua eyes following Annora as she paced.

"Thank you all for actually agreeing," Annora said, looking at the small group. Takiko shook his head.

"I still think this is asking for trouble," Takiko said. Annora frowned in worry. He was probably right. Maybe they shouldn't. Kamiko elbowed her brother lightly.

"Shut up. No one asked you." She said. She gave Annora a warm smile that somehow managed to calm her nerves.

"It seems promising enough," Jax said calmly. He looked up the sky calmly, seeming to be considering something.

"What are friends for?" Skuld asked with a smile. Annora returned the smile and took a deep breath to steady herself. She could do this. It wasn't impossible.

"Right," Annora said. She turned away from her friends and stepped up onto the fountain. The plaza was crowded like it usually was this time a day. She saw countless wielders she had seen out on missions. An orange haired girl tightly holding a Chirithy. A pink haired man who looked much too calm. A man shrouding his eyes with his hair and a hat. There were many others, and Annora knew she only had so long to get their attention. "Listen up everyone! From today on out, there will be a cross-union party! Anyone interested can sign up with me!" Annora said loudly. Just as expected all eyes turned to her.

Annora had never been nervous as the center of attention. But for once she felt herself fill with terror. She heard whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire.

'Is that even allowed?'

'Where will the lux go?'

'Who's bright idea was this?'

'How naive.'

'It won't last.'

Annora had expected these whispers to scare her off. But they didn't. She only became angry. Her eyes hardened with determination. Her fist clenched at her side. These people might be content to just wait around and watch the world burn, but she wasn't. And she was going to help anyone who thought like her, union be damned.

"If you think it's a bad idea just shut up!" Annora yelled. The crowd quickly fell silent. Annora took the opportunity to push on. "No one asked for your approval! I became a keyblade wielder to protect the light and battle the darkness just like the rest of you! What does it matter if we're in different unions?" She asked. She paused momentarily to allow the crowd a chance to answer. No one did, they only watched her in silent awe.

"What I know I wasn't prepared for, what none of us were prepared for, was this mess with the traitor. Or the war we all know is coming. But what the hell are we supposed to do about it? Go home and act like nothing happened? Or do we keep fighting amongst ourselves?" Annora asked. This time she didn't wait for an answer, it was clear she wouldn't get one. "I finally found my answer! Let's just live! Keep moving one day at a time and not let this hold us back! We're all torn to pieces but if we just give it some time things will get better. We have to keep moving until we reach our goal.

"Can't we just forget all these stupid notions, created just because we've had our pride wounded? Sure things yesterday were shit, and who can say what tomorrow will look like. Are we going to just keep fighting our way through life, hurting others who are different? Are we just going to give up because this war is foretold by a book? So what, things don't last forever. So that's going to stop us from living? We have nothing left to lose at this point, right?

"We've all lost friends. The story is turning in so many ways we don't know what we're supposed to do. We can sit here acting like children or we can keep moving. Just like those lost friends would want us to. Forget about your problems. Just be free. The light's going to survive because the night always ends to bring us a new day. Move onward if you're not there yet! Let's all just live!" Annora yelled. She looked down and repeated herself softly. "Let's just live."

Annora didn't wait to hear what anyone said. She jumped down from the fountain and went to her friends. Her heart was racing and she was almost afraid to look at them. She slowly looked up and was greeted with proud grins or warm smiles.

"Well said," Jax said calmly, a soft smile on his face. Annora was surprised by his calm demeanor, considering she had just yelled at a square full of people.

"I think I've decided I like this plan now." Takiko said, smirking at Annora. Annora smiled to herself, lifting her chin a little. He had been the most doubtful, it was good to hear he had changed his mind.

"You're a natural born leader, shame we didn't see this side of you til now." Kamiko said with a laugh. Annora shrugged in reply.

"I'm impressed. Way to go Nori!" Skuld said. Annora smiled at the nickname. No one had used that on her since Lyra had fallen into darkness. The old nickname comforted her. Lyra would have agreed too.

"It was nothing. I just got really mad." Annora admitted sheepishly. She glanced over her shoulder at the crowd. They were all whispering together in groups. Some glanced over at her, others didn't.

It didn't seem like much, but Annora thought there might have been a chance this would work.

~~~~~~~~~~*<3*~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I jokingly refer to this chapter as Shut Up Takiko. That's like, most of what is said to him this chapter. But it was fun to write, mostly because of that. I got a little inspiration for this chapter from a song. The song is called Let's Just Live, written by Jeff Williams and sung by Casey Lee Williams. RWBY fans will recognize that as the opening to volume four. I thought it had a great message so I based Annora's monologue around it. Hope you enjoyed!