[ "that way" ... does she really like Luke ... like that? she honestly hadn't considered it that way before.

before that can go anywhere, she shoves the thought away and considers Sanji's question for a long moment in silence. instead of answering directly, though, she says this instead, quietly. ]

... you know, right before the draft ... Riku and I had another argument. About what happened during that big experiment... how we were... married? [ wince. ]

After I got back... he tried to apologize. But it was the same exact things he'd said before... and I just...

I don't know if that was my real future or not, but... I'm not sure I want it to be.

[ that last sentence is barely above a whisper, and she shuts her eyes. moments from their relationship flash, briefly, though her mind -- their kiss in the rain after she was revived from the dead, how they fell in love during Dragobete, the many quiet moments they spent simply being in each other's company...

it feels like so long ago, now. like something out of someone else's life. and when she opens her eyes again, she finds that ... she doesn't mind, as much as she thought she would. ]

I ... I don't. I did, for such a long time, but after our last argument... [ shakes her head. ]