~V~

The sweet blonde girl pulled back, holding her at arm's length, and "V" (now understanding that was who she really was) blinked back the tears quickly.

"You must be starving!"

The girl grabbed V's hand and led her toward a queue. Insisting there was so much she had to catch her up on, the girl began chatting away about some TV show they must have both enjoyed watching together. V could hardly concentrate and found herself peeking at the girl's wristband.

S. Ferrow

V looked at the girl's beaming smile, her bright, expressive eyes that were a vivid green, wondering how long they had known each other, when suddenly she realized the girl's friendly chatting had come to halt, and she was looking at V expectantly as if she was waiting for an answer to a question V hadn't heard her ask. V balked.

"What?"

The sound of her own voice was unfamiliar to her. The girl's eyes crinkled and she laughed,

"I was asking if you noticed anything different about me?"

V flinched, "Um..." Fortunately, the girl swished her bouncy blonde curls slightly, and V inwardly blew a sigh of relief, realizing what the difference must have been. "You...changed your hair?"

The girl nodded, excitedly, "Yes! What do you think?"

V felt the impulse to give her a reassuring smile, despite how unsure she felt in her own skin, and obliged it.

"It suits you."

It wasn't a lie. V didn't know what it had looked like before the girl had done whatever she did with her hair, but without a doubt, it seemed to match her bubbly, easygoing personality. Soon, they were at the front of the line, and the Cafeteria attendant - an older lady with grey hair swept up into a neat bun - smiled at them, handing them two empty food trays to fill with whatever they wanted.

"Good afternoon, Sienna," the woman greeted the girl, warmly. "And Videl! How nice it is to see you up and about."

My name is Videl?  She thought to herself, and nervously glanced at the girl who seemed to be a friend of hers. Sienna.  Why weren't those names jogging her memory?

"Good afternoon, Shannon!" Sienna giggled.

Videl forced a polite smile, not sure what to say. Luckily for her, Sienna's gabbing was as plentiful as it was friendly, filling the vacuum left by Videl's meek silence. Instead, Videl busied herself by filling her tray with everything that looked good to eat, her hunger pangs feeling strong enough to knock her off her feet. Was it normal to be this hungry after waking from cryo-sleep? Her tray covered with meats and vegetables, she began to reach for an odd-looking fruit when Sienna suddenly gasped and slapped her hand away from it.

"V! What are you doing?" Sienna cried out.

Startled, Videl jerked her hand back as if the fruit would burn her like a hot coal.

"I-I was just grabbing some..."

But Sienna's eyes were wide, and Videl's words died on her lips.

"You're allergic to daro fruit!"

Videl stammered nervously, scrambling for the right words to say.

"Oh - thanks, I wasn't thinking. I guess I have a little brain fog."

Sienna's eyes narrowed at her in suspicion, and Videl started to panic. Sienna opened her mouth as if she were going to question her, but then her eyes shifted to something behind Videl.

"Shit," Sienna cursed under her breath, grimacing at whatever had caught her attention. She grabbed Videl's arm with her free hand that wasn't holding her food tray, about to steer her away from the food counter.

"Well, well, well." A man's voice called out from a few feet away. "Looks who it is, Kane. Someone broke Sleeping Beauty's curse."

Videl turned to see a sneering man with white-blond hair, a crooked nose, and black eyes - his irises so dark they blended seamlessly with his pupils. Something about him made her skin crawl. He pointed at her and nudged a man beside him with his elbow. Unlike the sneering man, the other man was devastatingly handsome, with muscular arms and broad shoulders, coppery-bronze hair that looked effortlessly tousled, and the most piercing eyes that were a peculiar shade of silver. His eyebrows raised slightly upon seeing her, before quickly pulling down into an icy glare that made her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

"Don't even start," Sienna snapped at the men, with an edge of resentment in her voice that Videl hadn't thought someone so kind was capable of. "We were just leaving!"

Sienna's hand tightened on Videl's arm, her manicured nails almost digging into her skin as she dragged her away toward the stairs that led up to the upper-tier dining area. Videl risked a glance back over her shoulder where the two men were standing. Her gaze locked with the man-who-must-be-Kane's. He was glowering after her, and the man next to him was rolling his creepy black eyes at their hasty retreat, muttering derisively - too far away now for Videl to discern what it was that he was saying.

Something about the way Videl must have been looking at Kane seemed to shift his cold demeanor from contempt to confusion, but Sienna's hand tugging her by the arm urged her to turn away and try to forget about it.

She couldn't help but wonder, though, who Kane was. And why did he look at her like he couldn't stand her?

~Kane~

"Well, well, well." Lars practically bellowed, breaking Kane's attention away from the TV screen on the far wall that was playing some nonsensical, ancient Japanese game show from the era when people still lived on the Ground. "Look who it is, Kane. Someone broke Sleeping Beauty's curse."

Lars elbowed his ribs, and Kane looked where he was pointing. Standing a few feet in front of them was Sienna. And even with her back turned to him, Kane recognized the long, dark hair of the girl standing with her.

Videl.

Why was she awake already? She had wanted to cryo-sleep until the ship got to Ocea Space Port next year. At least, that's what Sienna had angrily told him, months ago. Sienna had blamed Kane and Lars for her wanting to do it - said it was all their fault she chose cryo. Videl turned to face them, and Kane's initial surprise was quickly tamped down and replaced with indignation and frustration. He grit his teeth, annoyed at his pulse picking up when she looked at Lars and then him, in turn. He didn't want her to see he was a little shocked by her sudden appearance, and hurriedly fixed her with a glare, preparing for her typical scorn.

But Sienna leveled them both with a warning scowl as she said to them, "Don't even start." He hadn't planned on saying a word, anyway. "We were just leaving!"

Sienna spun on her heel, dragging Videl away by the arm. As the two girls departed, Kane let himself stare after her, his body rigid with tension.

"Bitches," Lars grumbled, with an exasperated eye roll.

Then, the strangest thing happened. Videl looked back at Kane. Right at him, but instead of fixing him with the usual burning hatred in her gaze, she just peered at him. Her big, golden eyes looked. . .lost. Kane was taken aback.

What in the hell did I just see?

She turned back around and continued up the stairs, and Kane was left standing there, bewildered. Something was seriously off with her, and he hated that he felt like he needed to figure out what it was.