Unexpected

Accident

Chapter 15

"Congratulations!" Leon kept hearing over and over as he watched Sora leave the room. For some reason, he felt very uneasy as the commotion continued and he looked into the empty doorway. He looked toward the group of people and saw Annette at the center, grabbing all of the attention yet again, but that was one of the interesting things about her.

Leon wondered why Sora had just walked out, not saying a word; it wasn't like her. He began walking toward the door, but then paused for a second, wondering why his chest hurt and he felt so uneasy about her leaving; his legs seemed to be moving on their own.

"Leon!" He heard in a thick French accent right before he was nearly tackled by an ecstatic Annette.

Annette could not stop grinning as she sat across the table from Leon at her favorite café. Leon wouldn't be surprised if her eyes showed in the dark from how bright they were. She was completely on cloud nine and would even randomly start giggling; Leon was sure people were questioning her sanity, but hey, she was excited and now had a wedding to plan.

"Annette," Leon began, her grin was contagious, "People are staring."

"Je suis tellement excité quand même! Il m'a finalement demandé!" she was so happy she reverted back to French.

"I know, it's about time Pierre proposed," Leon said with a smirk. Pierre Demerchant had been Leon's best friend since they were children, he even kept in contact with Leon after becoming a successful actor, the three of them had been friends for as long as Leon could remember and it seemed like Pierre and Annette had been together for just as long. He was happy for his friends.

"Any idea when you want to have the wedding?" Leon asked.

"Perhaps in the spring, when ze flowers are blooming; it will be tres romantic." She got an airy look in her eyes and she began to stare off into space, no doubt imagining her big day.

"Where?" He asked, trying to keep her attention.

"Paris!" she exclaimed, super excited yet again. "Oh Leon! Pierre wanted to ask; won't you be the best man?"

Leon gave a genuine smile, "Of course."

I can't keep doing this, Sora thought as she looked at herself in the mirror the next morning. I need to be strong, for the baby, it's not the end of the world, she thought, but why did her chest still hurt? Her eyes looked a little swollen, she looked at her watch, 7:46, she still had time before going to the stage for duty, she soaked a washcloth in cold water and went to lie down, eyes covered.

She removed the washcloth and looked at the clock, 8:15, might as well get ready, and she started her daShe had her hands on her slightly swollen belly and wondered when she would start feeling the baby kick. She couldn't wait to start making a nursery; hopefully she had enough room in her apartment, if not she'd need to move. What colors should she choose? She didn't know whether the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, but then again she did love surprises… most of the time. Maybe she'd go with light green and chocolate brown, those were nice colors; Sora couldn't help but smile to herself, she was getting excited, so this is how Ava felt? Maybe Sora should go visit.y a little brighter than she would have.

"Sora?" Cathy called into her walkie talkie; Ken passed his over to Sora.

"Yes?" Sora answered from in the production booth. She could see things that needed to be fixed from a new vantage point.

"Can you go down to wardrobe and pick up Leon's cape and bring it to his dressing room?" His cape got caught on the tightrope the day before; luckily he was able to untie it without people noticing.

"Sure!" she called as she turned to leave the room.

She held the garment bag over one arm as she walked down the hall to the dressing rooms. She passed by the room that was once hers, but was now being occupied by May. She wished she could still perform, but there were more important things, she'd decided. Unknowingly, the baby had become a huge part of Sora's life, and she'd only heard its heartbeat, and somehow she knew it would all be worth it in the end.

She finally got to the door to Leon's room. Assuming he was already at rehearsal, she gave a quick knock and just walked in. She dropped the garment bag almost as soon as the door swung shut. Her face felt like it was on fire and she couldn't take her eyes away, she felt like a statue.

There stood a god right before her. The strong corded arms, washboard abs, the long fingers she pictured hers being intertwined with, then he turned on her with his stormy violet eyes and seemed surprised to see her.

"Oh. Hello." He said as he pulled on his practice shirt.

Sora was shaken out of her stupor by his voice. She quickly averted her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice the shade of red rapidly spreading across her cheeks. She bent to pick up the bag. "H-hello," she stammered, still not looking at him directly. "Cathy asked me to bring this, sorry I just came in, I thought you were already at rehearsals," she left off.

"It is alright." He said, reaching for the garment bag.

"Here." She said as she handed it to him.

"Thank you." There was a silence as Sora's eyes met his. He gave her a soft smile. She could feel her cheeks heating up. Sora was shocked, but couldn't help but return the gesture, for a moment she had forgotten about Annette and her smile was genuine. She looked away a little shyly; she began to fiddle with her charm bracelet.

"Good luck tonight." She said sweetly and turned to leave, feeling light as air.

Leon just stood there, a little confused, he finally remembered where the bracelet had come from, but how had she gotten it out of his apartment? Had Fool recognized it was hers and brought it to her? That was the only explanation he could think of.

Two weeks later; Sora had it bad, she couldn't stop thinking about Leon, it was even worse than usual. She couldn't walk down the street without seeing him out of the corner of her eye, she couldn't speak to anyone without hearing his voice, and she couldn't sleep without dreaming of his arms around her, his fingers intertwined through hers, those same hands, holding her child, no, their child, and the smile that melted her heart at just a thought. She couldn't concentrate! She'd told Fool she needed some time alone, and he'd said he would stay with Rosetta for a bit, the poor girl, but Sora didn't think she'd be able to handle having anyone around, not even a spirit.

It made almost 3 times that she'd been asked to go retrieve something from the storage room and by the time she got there, her mind had wandered to Leon to the extent that she forgot what she had gone for! Her heart skips a beat at just the mention of his name, but then she remembers Annette. Now Sora had realized before that she can't find it in herself to hate Annette, she had never done anything to Sora, in fact she'd always been extremely nice and even showed signs of wanting to be friends, which Sora couldn't exactly say she would have disliked.

Sora was still lost in thought when she came across a familiar smell as she walked down the street in the still warm mid-September air. The familiar laughter ran like a bell as a sweet floral scent filled her nose. She turned and saw a sign that read "In Full Bloom." The building itself was a soft Ivory color and stood two stories tall, there was ivy growing up the sides, fitting for a flower shop. There were pots hanging from the awning in the front of the building, flowers in all colors filling them. She remembered Ava saying something about owning a flower shop in the area, could this be it? She decided to have a look.

The inside of the shop was even more beautiful than the outside, with crystal glass fixtures hanging from the ceilings and flowers of nearly every variety seemed to be growing from the walls themselves, but that could be because of the vines painted on the walls, the sweet smell put Sora at ease.

She noticed a young man standing behind the counter. He wore an apron with a pair of shears hanging from one of the pockets, ribbons hanging from another. He had shoulder length chestnut hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail; he had short stubble along his jaw and looked like he couldn't be more than 27 years old. He was arranging a bouquet when the breeze blew in through the open door and rang the wind chimes; Sora guessed that he was the owner. He noticed her and smiled a friendly kind of smile that puts one at ease.

"Can I help you?" His low smooth voice asked as his tawny eyes met hers.

"Oh, thank you but I'm just looking." Sora smiled back, observing the different arrangements around the shop.

"Grant?" a voice called from the back room. "Did you bring the vases in from upstairs?" a young woman said as she walking into the room. Sora turned because she recognized the voice.

"Yes, dear." He said in a joking tone. Sora could see the way his eyes shone when he looked at Ava; this must have been her husband. Ava wore a matching apron and her auburn hair was piled on her head and held in place with a pen.

"You have a lovely shop." Sora said, grabbing Ava's attention.

"Sora!" Ava practically skipped over and gave her a hug, her belly kind of pushing her away at the same time. "It's so nice to see you!" She turned to the young man behind the counter. "Grant!" she called. "This is my friend Sora Naegino; you know the one from Kaleido Stage? Sora, this is my husband Grant."

"A pleasure to meet you." Grant said, walking over with is hand outstretched.

Sora shook it, "the pleasure is all mine." She replied, his hands were slightly calloused from working with the flowers.

"I've heard so much about you." He said, "Your shows are amazing, I don't think Ava and I have missed a single production yet."

"Oh, thank you," Sora blushed, "But it's not all me." She replied humbly.

"OH!" Ava suddenly cried, effectively causing Sora to jump. "You need to see the greenhouse!" she practically jumped up and down like a child. She began to pull Sora toward the back of the shop. "Okay, now close your eyes!" She said quickly before they went out a door at the end of a short hallway.

"Fine." Sora laughed, closing her eyes, she heard the door creak open and her nose was assaulted by the sweet smell of flowers and fresh life.

Sora could feel the warm and slightly sticky sweet air.

"Okay, you can open them now!" She heard Ava call excitedly from a few feet away.

Sora opened her eyes and suddenly her breath was taken away. The first thing she noticed was how bright everything looked, but that might have just been the colors glowing in the sunlight streaming in through the glass roof. She saw some hanging pots but most things just grew from bushes in long troughs. The blooms shown with dew from being recently watered, there were various reds, pinks, oranges, violets, blues, any color you could imagine. Sora could see flowers ranging from lilies to roses to azaleas to flowers she couldn't even name.

"Oh, my…" Sora just trailed off, she had never seen a place so beautiful as the green house with vines growing up the walls.

"I know." Ava said. "This is my favorite place in the whole world, Grant built it for me." She seemed lost in thought as she gently fingered the silky bud of a young rose. "You know," she began after a moment of silence, "flowers have their own language?"

"Really?" Sora asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, each flower means something in its own, even the color can change the meaning." She walked to a bush sprouting white orchids. "An orchid stands for beauty and refinement," she took the shears from her pocket and cut one, passing it to Sora, then walked to a group of orange lilies, "Orange lilies stand for pride," she cut one and handed it to Sora. "Peach blossoms stand for generosity, and pear blossoms can be used to say 'get well soon' since they mean health." She cut some for Sora and handed them over, "Sweet Basil says 'good luck,'" she continued on, stopping before a rosebush, decked with amazing deep red roses the color of blood. "And roses," she smiled, mostly to herself, she touched the petals with such delicacy that Sora thought that she was afraid hurt it, "red roses say 'I love you," she smiled, looking at the bud like a long lost friend.

"You know," she said after they had admired the roses for a few minutes, "this whole thing, this place, this is how Grant proposed to me." She smiled.

"How did he do it?" Sora was genuinely curious.

"Well, we were sweethearts, together all through high school, he knew I've always loved flowers ever since I was a little girl. I never realized he had bought this house while we were dating, and while I thought he was just working overtime, he had been building this," she stretched her arms above her head and turned a circle, huge smile on her face. "We went out to dinner on our anniversary, and when we left the restaurant, he wrapped a bandana around my eyes," she laughed, "he actually blindfolded me. Well, he began to lead me around, and I had no clue where he was taking me, but I just went along with it, you know, thinking it was some kind of game." Sora was really enjoying the story.

"Anyway, he led me here, and took off my blindfold and we were in this beautiful flower shop, with vines growing on the walls, and every kind of flower imaginable, I was amazed. He led me in the back and to this one door. 'Close your eyes' he said and lead me in, when I opened them I almost cried, I had never seen such a beautiful greenhouse, I turned and he was down on one knee, a rose in his hand. I took it and smelled it, I think it was the sweetest flower I'd ever smelt, and I noticed something shining in the middle of it, when I spread the petals, there was a black gold band shaped like vines with an emerald at the center. 'I love you, Ava,' he said, 'and I built this for you, you are the most important thing in my life, and I want you and only you forever,' he said and stood up and took my hand, 'Marry me?' he asked, and the rest is history." Her eyes were shining with the memory of the story.

"That's so romantic!" Sora cried happily, wishing she could have someone like that, her mind wandered to a certain someone with long silver hair.

"Hey, do you want to help me make some arrangements?" She began cutting roses from the bush and placing them in a basket on the floor. She picked it up and moved over to another bush.

"Sure!"

He was just staring into space, at least that's what it looked like, but you and I both know that his thoughts were on a certain Japanese acrobat, one that seemed so far out of his reach. He knew that he couldn't have her, but that didn't stop his mind from ceaselessly wandering back to her, no matter how hard he tried.

"Leon!" Annette called from across the table, they were having dinner that night at a French restaurant, they decided to try it out, feeling nostalgic. He shook himself from his thoughts, almost like he'd suddenly been woken up.

"Hm?"

"It is three times I called your name!" She said incredulously, she couldn't believe he'd zoned out like that, she'd never seen him like this before. "Am I not entertaining enough?" She asked.

"No, you are fine," he replied, taking a quick look around the room, he'd noticed many people staring, mostly men watched Annette, but what else would be expected from a former model. He also noticed the women swooning over him, but remained indifferent, they were just shallow people who only saw what was skin deep, whereas Sora, she didn't like him to begin with, but he began to care greatly, knowing that she was not one to judge by appearance.

Annette laughed. "You are thinking of her again!" She had that familiar mischievous glint in her eye,.

Leon's indifferent expression quickly changed to one of shock, she hit the nail right on the head. "N-no!" He stammered.

"Yes!" She laughed, people began to stare, "I knew it! I've never seen you so infatuated."

"Such big words for one who has only just learned English." He replied, now he was grinning, thinking he got something.

"Don't change ze subject!" She cried. She reached across the table and placed her hand over his, her expression softened. "Leon," she said softly, "You know you can tell me, I've known you since we were children."

"There is nothing to tell." He said, looking away, he suddenly couldn't meet her eyes.

She turned his face back to her, "Leon." She said softly. "It's okay." Maybe it was the soft look in her eyes, almost as if she could see right through him, or maybe it was just the soft timber of her voice that reminded him of their childhood that made him think.

What am I doing? Leon thought to himself. He knew there was something going on, but couldn't explain what, he'd never felt that way before. He always thought of her, he saw her everywhere he went, she was in his dreams and he could swear he'd here her just around every corner. He was lying to himself, and if there was anything he hated more than shallowness, it was liars.

He took a deep breath. "I can't stop thinking about her." He began. "I see her everywhere, I hear her when she's not there, my chest hurts when she's gone, my chest hurts when she avoids me, I feel like I cannot breathe. I dream of her, and only think of the next time I may see her again. I don't know what to do anymore, it's like she is taking over my mind without even doing anything out of the ordinary. It hurts to be around her, and it hurts to be away, sometimes I think her voice is the most beautiful sound in the world, but other times I think she may be the instrument to my demise, I feel lost all the time until she comes in the room, then there is nothing but her, I've never felt this way before."

Annette just looked at him, she'd mastered a poker face just as much as he had. She squeezed his hand. And smiled. "L'amour." She said simply, her face softening into a lovely smile.

"Excuse?" he said blankly.

Annette drew her hand back and laughed. "Leon, you are a smart man, do I need to spell it out for you? "You are in love with ze girl."

Leon's face went blank. "What?"

"You love her!" She laughed like a madwoman whose made the greatest discovery since Columbus Discovered America.

"How can that be?" he whispered. "I am often in pain."

"But that is when she is not around, no?" She asked, then continued before Leon could speak again. "You say it hurts when she is gone, when she is near, but when she is near it hurts because you feel like you should not or cannot be close to her. You dream of her and think of her constantly, Leon, that is love." She said simply.

Love? That's what this was? Love? How could it be? He could feel the cold grip of anxiety crushing the air from his lungs. He felt numb. He was in love? How could that be?

Annette watched as he started staring off into space, obviously thinking of her, he was in shock; it was so cute!

"Leon." She said, he didn't hear her, his thoughts too far gone. "Leon!" He turned quickly, almost like he'd forgotten she was there. "You were staring again."

"H-how-what-I…" Leon was unsure of what to say.

"There is no explanation for zis Leon, if I knew, I would be a very rich woman," she laughed a little.

"But she's having a baby, let alone that of another man." He said, a hint of despair in his voice.

"Leon, you heard her say it before, he is not involved, she is alone in raising this child."

"But this can't be right."

"Leon, love needs no reason to strike, nor does it follow rules. You are in love with ze girl, there is no use denying it." She said simply.

Leon just looked at her, but Annette could see the blank look in his eyes. He was in love with Sora. He was in love with a beautiful, talented, sweet, all around amazing woman, yet why did he feel like he could never have her? He didn't deserve her.

Annette broke in jus then. "Zis is what you need to do." Leon could tell by the tone of her voice and the glint in her eye that he was not going to win this argument.

"Okay, I think that's enough, I need to go." May called from the net the following afternoon. She and Ken had been practicing for nearly three hours and she had dinner plans with Layla.

"Okay, but I'm going to stay." He called from up in the swings.

"See you tomorrow, Love you!" He called as he let go and flew to the other swing.

"Love you too!" she replied as she walked out the door and nearly bumped into a very tall redhead and causing her to drop a few books on the floor.

"Sorry!" May said as she helped Rosetta pick up her books, among them was Pride and Prejudice.

"It's okay, I should have been paying attention, maybe reading and walking isn't such a good combination," she laughed a little. May handed her the book.

"Hope you didn't lose your page, is it good?" May had never read it but she'd wanted to.

"It's amazing!" Her eyes lit up. "Darcy loves Elizabeth but he's very proud and she has issues with rich people and thinks he's just a horrible person, but now she's starting to see just what kind of person he really is! It's all so romantic, especially when they dance! Oh, I wish Darcy was a real person!"

"You're young, I'm sure you'll find someone in no time." May said.

"Look at you, speaking like an old married woman." She giggled. She looked at her watch. "I've got to go, see you later." She called as she made her way down the hall.

"Okay, bye!" She waved. She'd passed Leon's dressing room on the way to hers, he'd left a little early that day, saying he had some errands to run, may thought it was a little odd but didn't question it. She passed by Sora's dressing room which she was temporarily using while Rosetta was in hers, it seemed a little odd that Rosetta didn't just use Sora's but all the costumes May had to use and the makeup were already there, so until Sora had her baby and was able to return, which everybody assumed she would, May would use it. She wondered if Sora was bothered at all that May was replacing her, though it was only temporary, believe it or not, she didn't like being the center of attention as much as she used to. If it did bother her, she wasn't showing it, but then again, May was sure she had other things to worry about.

May knew that Sora was still in the building, doing odd jobs and what not, just like when she had temporarily stopped performing when Leon had picked May as his partner, but that was years ago. She was over thinking things, she continued passed the rooms.

"Hello?" Sora heard someone call. She was carrying a box of stage makeup when the voice startled her nearly enough to cause her to drop the box. She recognized the voice though. She turned to see Ava walking down the hall, a box of flowers in her arms.

"Ava!" Sora called her over. Ava's eyes lit up as she ran toward her friend.

"Sora! I'm glad you're still here!" She smiled brightly.

"What are you doing here?" Sora eyed the flowers.

"Oh, I'm delivering flowers for tonight's show. I've been doing arrangements for some of the shows but Grant has been the one delivering them, but I told him to stay and hold down the fort because I wanted to come see you!"

"You did the flowers? They were beautiful!" Sora was impressed.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I have no idea where I'm supposed to deliver these!"

"I'll take you." Sora led her to the stage which was still teeming with activity. There was a show that night and people were doing the normal preparations. Swings were being tested, ropes were tightened and the like.

"Cathy!" Sora called. "The flowers are here!"

"Okay! Leave them over there!" She went back to yelling at a stagehand to take the net down. Ava put the box down at the edge of the stage.

"I have to deliver this to one of the dressing rooms, you want to come? I'll give you a tour."

"Okay!"

They made their way down the halls, Sora pointing out different departments and practice rooms along the way until the finally got to her former dressing room.

"This was mine." Sora said as she opened the door.

"Was?" Ava asked.

"Well, I can't really perform now, for obvious reasons." Sora turned to her side, comically showing off the visible bump on her midsection.

"Oh, I'm sure no one will notice!" She joked, earning a laugh from Sora. She began to place the makeup on the vanity table.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually wore all of these." Ava said, brushing her hands over the silky soft costumes.

"Yeah, their actually more comfortable than you'd think. It's almost like a second skin and they stretch so it's easy to move in."

"You know," Ava said, "I actually recognized one of the women in the other room, if I'm not mistaken, I did the flower arrangements for her wedding. I think her name was Sarah."

"You did her flowers too?" Sora was surprised. "They were amazing, you really know what you're doing. If I'd ever get married, I'd want you to do the flowers."

"Well I have been in love with flowers forever." She laughed. "So, any wedding bells in the near future for you?" Sora was silent. She didn't really know what to say. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Sora?" Ava sounded concerned, she'd noticed the silence.

"Who would I marry?" Sora sounded a bit more bitter than she'd intended.

"The father?" Ava suggested.

"I'm sorry, but he's not going to be involved." Sora tried to make her voice sound light but it didn't work.

"Why, doesn't he want to raise his child?" Ava asked lightly, not knowing how deep her questions were cutting Sora.

"He doesn't know." Sora still wouldn't look at Ava.

"What do you mean 'He doesn't know?'" Ava sounded genuinely concerned. "He doesn't know you're pregnant?"

This time Sora did look at her. "He knows I'm pregnant, just not that he's the father." Sora could feel her chest growing cold, she didn't like to speak about her situation, but it was just flowing from her. "And I can't tell him, I can't have him hate me, I can't ruin his life like this."

"How could something so precious ruin his life?" Ava was genuinely worried about Sora.

"Because, he has someone else, and I just can't do this to him… no matter how much I love him." Sora stopped. She hadn't been thinking of what she was saying, she felt as though she had no control over the words that were coming from her mouth, but she knew it was true; she was in love with Leon.

"I love him." She whispered mostly to herself, "But I shouldn't," she could feel the warm tears streaming down her face, and the pain in her chest from a broken heart. "I can't have him, I can't be with the father no matter how much I do love him, so neither will the baby, I don't want my child to have to go through this."

"Sora." Ava said as she wrapped her arms around her in comfort, letting Sora cry into her shoulder, finally letting the months of agony unknown to even herself out.

Leon walked down the halls, searching for Sora, he knew she would still be in the building; she was normally one of the last ones to leave. He continued to search for her, flowers under his arm. Earlier he'd walked into a flower shop called In Full Bloom.

"Can I help you?" The man behind the counter asked, he couldn't have been much older than Leon, he wore a black apron with a pair of shears in the pocket. He had shoulder length chestnut hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. His nametag read Grant.

Leon wasn't really sure what he was supposed to ask for "Get flowers," Annette had said, "Somesing nice and ask her to dinner." She'd insisted, even giving Leon the name of this particular shop that she absolutely adored.

"I need some flowers." Leon said dumbly, no shit, he was in a flower shop.

"What kind?" He asked nicely, an easy smile on his face. "We got arrangements for funerals, get well soon, congratulations," the man listed the types of arrangements as he cut the thorns from the rose he'd been holding when Leon had walked in. "We have whatever you need."

"How about 'have dinner with me?'" Leon said evenly.

"Aha." Grant grinned. "A special lady friend." Leon could feel his cheeks heating up, but he refused to blush, even if it was by sheer willpower. "These would be it then." He pulled out a bucket of roses that he'd already removed the thorns from and some baby's breath. He laid the flowers down on some white tissue paper and placed the baby's breath between every few roses and then rolled it up expertly, tying a red ribbon around the stems. "Here you are." He smiled at Leon like he knew how he felt. Leon cracked a small smile, thanked the man and left a generous tip.

Now he stood outside of Sora's dressing room, the door was slightly open and he could hear voices coming from the inside. His heart rate began to speed up as he heard Sora's voice. He paused outside the door, about to knock.

"What do you mean 'He doesn't know?'" Leon heard a woman say. "He doesn't know you're pregnant?"

"He knows I'm pregnant, just not that he's the father." Sora's voice came, slightly muffled. "And I can't tell him, I can't have him hate me, I can't ruin his life like this."

"How could something so precious ruin his life?"

"Because, he has someone else, and I just can't do this to him… no matter how much I love him."

"I love him." There was a pause, "But I shouldn't," Leon heard her voice crack "I can't have him, I can't be with the father no matter how much I do love him, so neither will the baby, I don't want my child to have to go through this." He heard sobbing through the small crack in the door.

Leon could feel his heart sink. She was in love with the father. He looked down to the flowers in his hand, and then to the ground. He turned and walked away, not making a sound. He could feel his nose prickle a bit as he dropped the roses into the trashcan down the hall.

Sora's thoughts were still on her newly found realization of love the next day as she walked down the street. That was the only explanation; she loved Leon, but knowing that he was betrothed to a beautiful French woman, she couldn't bear to watch him place his arms on another at the show the previous evening, so, with morning sickness as an excuse, she left early to go home.

Ava had convinced her to join her for lunch the next day at her favorite Café, so Sora was on her way. She still wasn't exactly feeling up to par, but just sitting around and moping wouldn't do much help, she needed to lift her spirits, for the baby's sake.

Leon couldn't believe the performance he'd given the night before. He was stopped after the show the night before by an audience member. They told him they'd never seen such a tragic phantom, not even in the Broadway show. He was told that he'd given the best performance as the phantom that they'd ever seen. He never realized his mood broke through his acting enough for someone in the audience to notice, but he could just tell them that it was acting; though Annette knew better.

He was told to join her for lunch that day, not really given much of a choice, so he was on his way to meet Annette at her favorite café, when he saw the object of his torment walking not much farther ahead of him. He could clearly see the size of her midsection now, it was hard to deny that she was pregnant. His heart skipped a beat before he remembered the conversation he'd over heard the day before. She was in love with the father, he could never have her. His mood seemed to sink yet again; he hated rollercoasters.

Sora's eyes followed a young woman pushing a stroller. She had another young child at her side, holding the little boy's hand as they walked. She looked so happy. Sora hoped she would be that happy when her child was born. The young boy had auburn curls, freckles and the bluest eyes she'd ever seen; he couldn't be more than three years old. The child saw Sora looking at him and smiled and waved. Sora waved back. A man accidentally bumped into the young mother, causing her to drop her purse, spilling its contents. The mother and the man knelt down to pick up her possessions, Sora could hear the man apologizing profusely.

The next minute seemed to happen in a millisecond. When the man bumped into the mother, the little boy noticed a dog being walked across the street, the mother, not paying attention, let go of the child's hand to pick up her things. The child ran into the street.

Sora's heart raced as she watched the child run into the path of an oncoming car. Her movements were automatic, adrenaline coursed through her veins as she took flight. Luckily she wasn't far from the child. She ran into traffic and had enough time to grab the child before she heard the tires begin to squeal like a banshee's scream.

"SORA!" she heard from very close; a familiar voice over the screeching of the tires. She felt the impact more than any pain.