Unexpected

"Come on, Sora!" May cried excitedly. "Just one!" She yelled a little louder than normal, her cheeks were a little flushed, a sign that the fourth beer was finally getting to her, the girl could really put down the liquor.

"I'm not sure…" she began nervously, eyeing the reaction May was exhibiting in response to the alcohol. The Chinese acrobat couldn't even stand up straight on flat land; Sora would hate to see what she would look like on a balance beam at the moment.

"Come on! You're legal now!" May laughed. Sora had been legal for little while already but was a little wary of actually consuming alcohol because, unlike May, Sora had a very low tolerance to alcohol. The fact that was accidently unearthed on the night of her 21st birthday only months earlier. Let's just say that particular night involved some very loud and off-key singing, lots of hugs and "iloveyou"s and questioning of the need for superglue to keep her clothes on, events that the culprit didn't even remember the next day.

A salty, sea breeze played in Sora's purple hair, which now hung to the middle of her back. The Cape Mary beaches were the perfect places to hold parties, such as the celebration of Sora's fifth year performing on the Kaleido Stage. The whole cast and crew was present. Sora had also been congratulated by Jerry, the policeman, and Dr. Kate, who had gotten married two years earlier, Mr. Policeman finally got his girl. The illumination came from the three bonfires along the beach, their warmth ebbing the chill brought on by the wet ocean breeze.

"Hang on, I'll get you one!" May yelled for everyone to hear and stumbled off towards the coolers placed in the back of someone's pickup, almost getting to know the ground with her face twice.

"I think she's had a few too many." Sora heard someone say from behind her. She turned to see Ken Robbins's amused expression regarding his girlfriend. You read that right, May was his girlfriend. They had begun dating about a year and a half prior to that night, and, though they were almost complete opposites, were completely in love, as May said on the girls' nights throughout said year.

"Leave her alone, she's having fun." Layla Hamilton said as she walked by, hand in hand with her now-husband Yuri Killian. They had taken a night out without the kids in order to addend the party. They had been married for maybe 3 years now and had two kids, a 3 year old girl named Stella, and a 2 year old boy named Alexander.

"But you don't have to take her home tonight." Ken laughed as May came staggering back, three beers in her hands, one already opened and sloshing about as she walked.

"Ken!" She yelled happily. "I brought you one too!" she handed him a beer and shoved another into Sora's hands. Sora eyed it warily as Ken tried to pry the other away from May, clearly thinking she'd had enough.

"I brought you one!" She yelled, struggling to keep her beer. "Drink your own!" At that, Ken grabbed her sides, causing her to squeal as he tickled her. She tried to escape from the evil clutches of his hands, only resulting in her tripping over her own feet and Ken tripping over his as they fell over in a giggling mass of flesh and sand on the beach, spilling the two beers. Sora couldn't help but laugh as they tried to untangle themselves.

"Get a room you two!" Anna laughed as she walked by with Dio, the whip user from Theatrical Camp. She giggled a little at something Dio said. His hand moved towards hers. Mia sat down the beach a little giggling with one of the stage hands, sitting close together. Sora sighed a little, it seemed as though she was the only one left single now.

Feeling like a third wheel, she turned towards the bonfire and saw her stage partner Leon Oswald talking to Yuri, beer in hand. They were on friendly terms at the moment. They sort of had an on/off friendship thing going on; one minute they can be good friends but a stray comment could elicit hostility between them, but Sora knew better. Though they didn't want to admit it, they were friends.

Leon spotted her and, seeing that she was alone, waved her over. She blushed a little at his gesture of kindness and obliged. You may be asking why she was blushing if he'd been her partner for about 3 years; Layla was Sora's first partner. That particular question could be answered by just looking at the man.

First of all there was his body. Since he was a performer he was required to be in the top physical shape. He was tall, a little over six feet, thin, but not too thin and very muscular, but not so much that he looked like he could take on a bus. Next there was his face. High cheekbones, sharp eyes, long white-silver hair that seemed to change between a snowy white color and a shining silver in a certain light. There was also the way he carried himself. Straight back, raised chin, never faltering. He had an air of nobility about him. But what got Sora the most were his eyes, the color of a stormy silver-violet that looked like they could see right through you, eyes you could easily get lost in.

"Sora?" He called, jolting her from her thoughts, good thing too, Sora thought she was about to start drooling. She wouldn't have been the first to swoon over this perfect specimen of gorgeous man. Leon was wearing a form-fitting black buttoned shirt with the first few buttons popped open, which sharply contrasted with his almost-white hair, making it seem to glow, and a pair of black jeans that fit in all the right places, Sora tried to prevent the blush from claiming her cheeks. She'd seen Leon in various costumes and get-ups from performances, but his casual look still struck her as beautiful. She felt underdressed in her favorite worn-out jeans and gray shirt.

"Yes?" She said, finally reclaiming control of her voice. She smiled a Yuri, who was now standing alone, Layla had gone to talk to Charlotte and Julie, the girls who had originally tormented Sora but now were more-or-less friends in a sense.

Yuri turned to her. "Congratulations Sora." He smiled proudly, feeling Sora had done well.

"Thank you, Yuri. How are the kids?" She asked brightly. Stella and Alex often came to see their "Auntie Sora" performing with their parents, she thought that maybe they could be future performers and loved to spend time with them. She often brought them to the park and out for ice cream when Layla was busy.

"They're great." He smiled as he thought of his kids, ever since his first child was born Yuri had seemed different somehow, kinder and happier all the time, he was always anxious to get home to his family when away on business and such. "They want to come and see the next show."

"I'll be waiting for them." She smiled in return. Leon stood silently, taking a sip of his beer.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked when Yuri went to find his wife.

"I suppose." Leon said in his French accent, his face perfectly blank, betraying no emotion whatsoever. Sora furrowed her brow.

"Doesn't sound like it." She mumbled mostly to herself, but Leon heard.

"I suppose this is not really my type of…" He searched for a word.

"That's fine." Sora said before he got the chance to finish his sentence. "I guess not everyone likes this kind of thing." She shrugged. Leon took another sip as they slipped into a somewhat comfortable silence.

Sora began to fiddle with her lucky charm bracelet, the fine silver chain shone in the moonlight. The charms served as momentos for her years on the stage, she collected a new charm for each production; a swan for swan lake, a rose for beauty and the beast, a mask for their production of Phantom of the Opera and many more. She eyed the new charm she was given to commemorate her five years on the stage.

Sora listened to the sounds of the ocean and the small band playing in the background, some people even gathered around a bonfire to dance. Sora couldn't help but smile at the merriment of the others.

"What is so amusing?" Leon asked when he noticed Sora's smile.

"Everyone's having such a great time; it makes it seem so much better." She turned and smiled at him this time. A little shocked by his stage partner's brilliant smile, Leon took another sip of his beer, hoping nothing showed on his face. He noticed that she hadn't even touched hers.

"You are not drinking?" He asked, wondering why not, all the others seemed to have had at least one, but in May's case she should have just stopped at one, he doubted she would remember very much of this night and that she'd even get out of bed the next day.

Sora looked down at the beer in her hands and blushed a little, embarrassed of the fact that she seemed to be the only one who couldn't really handle much alcohol. "Well, I'm not very good with alcohol." She confessed. "May just kinda shoved it into my hand before she and Ken ended up on the ground." Sora averted his gaze, suddenly very self-conscious.

"There is nothing wrong with that." He said assuring. "But one should be okay; I am only having this one." He said, holding up his half-empty bottle.

"I suppose one couldn't hurt." Sora said giving in. Leon held his bottle up to her. She clanked hers against his and "Cheers," brining the bottle to her lips.

The sunlight streamed in through the opened curtains, casting a warm glow over the room. The birds sang softly as they flew about outside in the early morning breeze, early morning surfers made their way to the beach. Sora shifted in bed.

The sheets felt odd against her body, she ignored this and tried to reclaim the sleep that had just escaped her. Finding this task harder than she thought, Sora slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Something was off.

She sat up and looked about the room and noticed that some things were missing and others were in place. She was in a room like hers but something was different. Instead of family photos adorning the walls there was emptiness. On the desk were papers and books neatly stacked and in order as opposed to Sora's messy desk filled with letters and a rainbow of pens. She looked to a wall and noticed that the dresser was in a different place and there was not mirror. This wasn't her room.

Sora's head began to throb as she tried to remember where she was and how she got there. She looked down at herself and discovered why the sheets felt so strange. She was naked!

Sora tried to remember why she was naked in a room that wasn't hers but her memory evaded her in a haze of sleepiness and a hangover. She heard a soft grunt from beside her.

She slowly turned and had to cover her mouth to stop herself from yelping in surprise. Lying there, in bed next to her (also unclothed, I might add) was a man whom many found extremely attractive, a man whom many said was cold and heartless, a man often called the "Grimm Reaper" of the stage. That's right, lying next to Sora was the one and only Leon Oswald, sleeping with his long silver hair splayed out over the pillow, his bare chest slowly rising and falling in the steady rhythm of his breathing. He shifted a little in his sleep. Sora's breathing had stopped. He rolled over onto his stomach and remained motionless, only the steady rise and fall of his chest showed any sign of life

She looked down at herself and back and him and back at herself, trying to figure out how this situation was even possible. Her veins turned to ice as she put two and two together. No. She thought.

She quickly got up, careful not to disturb the sleeping Frenchman and quickly gathered all her clothes. She got dressed as quickly as she could without falling over or disturbing her sleeping partner. She had a hard time keeping her balance as a wave of vertigo hit. She knew this feeling. It was the same feeling she had the night after her 21st birthday, she'd had too much to drink

Hoping she hadn't forgotten any articles of clothing, heaven forbid Leon would find her bra in his room, Sora quickly found her shoes and bolted from the apartment, running like a bat out of hell, trying to think of ways to explain herself as the door closed softly behind her.