Chapter 1: The first meeting.

Twilight Town, Monday morning 7:45 AM. Twilight Apartments Apartment 201

A 25-year-old woman with shoulder length red hair lay in bed. She was tossing and turning as if she wanted to sleep more, but when her bright blue eyes awoke, she started to freak out at the time. She was going to be late for work.

"Dammit! I'm going to be late! He is so going to kill me!" She screamed to herself as she grabbed a knee length black skirt to put on her lower body. While running all over the place, she put on a simple white and pink blouse. She then rushed over to her jewelry box to grab a simple necklace with a single bead on it.

"Damn, why did I stay up so late working on that story?!" She asked herself as she grabbed her keys and her phone along with a vanilla coloured folder with a stack of paper in it and then headed out the door.

"Dammit Kairi, you know you're better than this! Your parents raised you to be responsible and punctual, not lazy and tardy. I guess this is karmic retribution for something."

Kairi ran to her silver car, started it, and began driving frantically as if she were in a NASCAR race. She turned on the radio, flipping through a few channels before settling on something she found enjoyable, media news.

"In entertainment news, film production on Hearts Connected begins today. Citizens are advised to stay away from Town Square while filming is happening."

Kairi smiled to herself. She wondered who would be the lucky one to get a chance to interview the star of the movie. Once Kairi saw her workplace in sight, she parked her car in a parking spot and hurried up the stairs into the white building with a star emblem on it. She then ran straight to the end of the big room and plopped down her things on her desk. Her desk was pretty simple, there was a small star shaped fruit plant on her desk and a couple of photographs of herself, and her grandmother.

"Phew, made it. Hopefully he didn't see me sneak in."

"Ahem!" A loud cough caught her attention. Kairi turned around to find a small mouse with large ears wearing a black coat, red pants and yellow shoes looking at her. She sighed, knowing exactly who it was.

"Oh… hi Mickey! How's Minnie?" Kairi asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Mickey sighed, ignoring Kairi's question.. "Let me guess… you saw a story you just had to pursue, Kairi."

"Heh...busted." She grinned sheepishly knowing that she was busted.

Mickey walked over to Kairi and placed his hand on her shoulders as she bent down to listen to what he had to say to her.

"Listen Kairi, there is no doubt you're one of the best journalists we have on staff here, but I also made a promise to your parents and grandmother to keep you safe from harm. So, please Kairi, I'm begging you, as your boss, your friend, and somewhat of a father figure, please. Just take caution when you're trying to pursue a story. The last thing I want to tell your parents is that something happened to you on an assignment."

Kairi gave him a warm smile. "I promise."

"Good. That's more like it, ah-huh!" Mickey smiled as he walked back to his desk and came back with an envelope in hand.

"What's this?" Kairi asked. She raised an eyebrow as Mickey handed her the envelope.

"Your next assignment!"

Kairi opened the envelope to find a pass. "This is a pass to that new movie set… Hearts connected."

"That's right, I have a friend in the production crew who's willing to arrange a meeting with the star of the movie. So, how about it, Kairi? You want to cover this story? Or should I hand it over to someone else?" Mickey teased.

Kairi squealed very loudly as she hugged and thanked Mickey. She grabbed her keys and headed off to the set. She made a mental note to herself to rub this in her best friend's face later. She knew better, just how jealous they were going to be.

Across Twilight Town, was a large room that looked about as disorganized as a retail store during a sale. Various individuals with headsets, stacks of paper, and even larger scaled items such as props, cameras, and boom mics were shuffling all across. It was one of the largest soundstages in Twilight Town's premiere film studio, DuskWorks. The bell had just gone off signaling the end of shooting. Everyone on set was relieved, including a young man, who could easily be identified as the star of the film thanks to the dress shirt he was wearing and the spiky brown hair that drove so many fangirls crazy. He walked out of the soundstage, a friend of his following behind, and over to the dressing rooms to change. It had been a long day so far, and he was ready for a rest.

"So, you're sure this reporter isn't like the others?" He asked as he changed into a black t-shirt.

"Trust me, I've known Mickey for a long time. I wouldn't doubt the person he's sending." His silver-haired friend assured him as he fixed the fingerless gloves on his hands.

"Riku…." The brunette sighed as he put on a silver crown necklace.

Riku put a hand on his friend's shoulder while giving him a reassuring smile.

"Sora, relax! If I know Mickey as well as I do, then he'll send a old geezer like Cid to cover the story. Besides, I know you want space from girls after…. ya know."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, hard to believe it's been almost a year since it happened."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here for you, no matter what." Riku said holding out a fist.

Sora smiled as he returned the fist with his own. "Thanks, Riku."

Riku and Sora had been best friends since they were in high school. In fact, it was thanks to Riku secretly signing Sora for their high school play that Sora decided to pursue acting as a career after high school. His first breakout hit was a small film called Oathkeeper's Promise alongside a famous actress. However, Sora didn't have very good luck with girls. The only girlfriend he had did something to him that he could never get out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. It still haunted him to this very day.

"Excuse me? I'm looking for a Riku Kimura? Mickey sent me."

A soft voice called out to break Sora out of his thoughts. Riku couldn't help but wonder who was looking for him. Sora and Riku looked at each other as Kairi entered the dressing room. The air in the room suddenly felt different, like a new gust of wind had entered and was about to have a profound effect on both of them.

When Kairi got in front of Sora, He could feel his heart stop and time stopped for what seemed like a moment., He could feel the sweat on his body trickle down all over him like he was taking a cold shower. Something about this girl was clearly affecting him for some reason, but he couldn't tell what until he got a good look at her face.

"No… she looks exactly like-"

"Hi! I'm Kairi Narumi. I'm a reporter at the Twilight Press." Kairi said with a smile as she held her hand out, waiting for the handshake to be returned.

"Crap. I'm boned." Sora thought to himself.

This was going to be a very long day.

Authors note: Heyo, I know I've been away for a while, but I've working on this. Anyway sporadic updates like the other 5 million stories i have going on. (lol) Anyway Hope you enjoy and review.

And speical shoutout to FFGirl15 for beta reading this :)

Barry? I don't know if you can hear me or if... you're trying to send us a message somehow. Hey, I did what you told me to. I kept running, I kept moving forward. Because I knew that if I stopped to look back, then I would remember that you weren't behind me anymore. [getting emotional] And it's been so hard... And when Cisco said that he could bring you back, you know, I didn't know what to think. What if it didn't work? What if you... were dead? I mean, I thought it would be like losing you all over again. [Barry keeps writing, paying no attention to her.] I never imagined this, though. I don't know what I would do if this is all that's left of you. If this is all that's left of the amazing man that I know. And love. Please come back to me. Tell me you're still my Barry.

-Iris West-Allen