It was a Sunday morning and the front of the orphanage was crowded with people. Madam Aria along with some charities had come to donate money and provide varieties of resources once again.

Boxes being loaded off of buses and into the orphanage once every few months was a familial occurrence. It was thanks to the charities that the orphanage was able to stay sustained.

Mia was helping carry things inside, when she heard someone calling. "Mia!"

Mia turned to the familiar voice, it was Madam Aria. She pulled her to the side. "It has been awhile, huh. Have you been well?" Madam Aria was especially worried for Mia after the incident with Vin. She always makes sure to check on her every visit.

"Yes, thank you. How about you, Madam Aria?"

"I'm glad to hear that. Well, as for me... I've been in my best condition." Said Madam Aria with a wide grin across her face.

"Why? Did something good happen?"

"Do you remember my son, Cloud? That's right, he'll be coming back home."

Mia froze at Madam Aria's words.

"Mia?"

"Ah, yes of course, I do remember him."

Although Madam Aria went all her way to share the good news with Mia, she did not receive a positive reaction at all. That's because she did not know about Mia and Cloud's relationship.

Mia felt disturbed remembering the unpleasant experience she had with Cloud back when they were younger and when Vin was still around.

「 Cloud was a good friend of Mia and Vin. He would frequently visit the orphanage to play. But one day out of the blue, he started to treat Mia coldly and avoided, almost as if he was wary of her.

Mia would occasionally feel him creepingly stare at her, and he would avoid her immediately when she caught him doing so.

Young Mia hated the treatment she received from Cloud but did not dare to tell him off. She lacked the courage to do so anyway.

One day Mia tried to confront Cloud about the change in his behavior toward her. Her, Vin and Cloud were together, but Cloud did not pay her any mind as expected. Then, Mia slowly walked to Cloud's side and tugged on his sleeve. "Cloud... why have you been ignoring me?"

Cloud flinched at Mia's question. He just stood still while he stared at her. Vin, who was with them, had a confused look on his face.

"It's because of your sickness." Before Cloud could even say anything, Cary who was nearby answered in his stead. It seemed like she knew something.

"...My 'sickness'?"

"That's right." As if she was trying to shield Cloud from Mia, Cary walked up between them. "He saw it. He saw how weird you act when you sleep. So don't come near him anymore, he doesn't want to catch your sickness and become like you."

"What?" Vin looked at Cloud, "Was that true, Cloud?"

Cloud did not respond, instead he just looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"See? Cloud doesn't want to talk to you anymore, so-"

"Cary, be quiet!"

Cary flinched at Vin's loud voice.

"Cloud, was what Cary said true?"

At this point, Cloud still wasn't talking.

"...I'm disappointed in you."

The atmosphere was quiet for a while and soon followed up by the sound of crying. Mia clenched onto her own clothes and round little teardrops streamed down her face as she sobbed. She then turned around and ran away.

"Mia!" Vin called out to Mia as she ran further and further away.

This particular event really left a bad impression on Mia. She became insecure and untrusting. She did not want her illness problem to be known in fear that people will hate her for it.

The conflict between Mia and Cloud was never properly resolved because Cloud went to live abroad. 」

------

That night, in her dream, Mia was telling Vin about the news of Cloud's returning.

"Vin, today Madam Aria came to visit us again," Mia faced Vin with a serious expression, "and she told me that Cloud will be coming back."

"Who?" Vin replied with a stern face.

"Huh?"

Vin immediately covered his mouth with his hand as if he just said something he shouldn't have. He glanced at Mia who was staring at him, dumbfounded. "Ah... umm..."

"...you don't remember Cloud?"

"Ah, no, I do... just that it's been a while since I've heard his name. I see, so he's coming back, haha..."

Mia was puzzled by the way Vin reacted. Vin's relationship with Cloud was damaged after that day, so why was he so humble about it? Mia decided not to bring up Cloud again for now.

And then once Mia woke up, she immediately grabbed a note and wrote down Vin's unexpected reaction. Actually, she had been taking notes of every dream she had with Vin. That wasn't the first time Vin had reacted in such a way. He would sometimes forget about certain things, or maybe he had never known about them at all in the first place.

The more Mia got to know the Vin in her dream, the more uncharacteristic he seemed. Mia could not help but grow ever more suspicious about him everyday, even though she didn't want to.

------

"...mia..."

"...Mia?!"

Vivi shook Mia on the shoulder. "Mia, are you okay?"

"Ah... huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Vivi made a concerning expression. "You've been spacing out a lot. Is everything okay?"

"...Yeah." Mia gave Vivi an exhausted smile.

Mia hadn't been herself for quite sometime now. In fact, she had been this way since Madam Aria broke the news about Cloud to her. Mia knew that the chances of running into Cloud are big and she didn't know what to do when it happened. Her concern about Vin was also starting to eat at her. Mia felt tired.

Today's lunch tasted weird as well. Vivi wanted to respect Mia's privacy, so she had been quiet, but she had enough. "Mia, is there something wrong at home? You know, I'm always here for you, so please talk to me."

Mia's expression saddened at Vivi's words. She was touched by Vivi's concern toward her. She then proceeded to tell her concerns about Cloud to Vivi. But not all of them, Mia wasn't ready to open up to Vivi about her illness.

Vivi carefully listened to Mia's trouble, showing that she sincerely cared for Mia.

"...and then, recently, I was told that he's coming back."

"I see."

The two of them went quietly for a moment before Vivi started talking. "Hey, I don't know the whole situation but I do think there are some discussions to be had between you and that Cloud guy. It sounded like there were misunderstandings."

"..."

"Ah- but if he turned out to be just an outright jerk, I will beat the living crap out of him for you!"

Mia looked at Vivi and laughed at her declaration. Vivi also smiled along, seeing Mia laughing again. "Anyway, maybe you can try talking to him again? It had been years after all."

"...but I'm still scared."

Vivi placed her hand on Mia's shoulder. "I can do it together with you."

Vivi's words comfort Mia deeply and she lets out a little laugh. "Thank you, Vivi. You're always helping me, I'm glad to have you here with me."

"I'm just glad to be able to help a friend," Vivi laughed.

-You are so smart Vin...

'Ah, those words...'

-...You're always helping me, I'm glad to have you with me again.

'...It's the same thing that I said to Vin.' Mia smiled. She found comfort from the fact that she treated Vivi almost the same way she did with Vin.