Mia immediately ran away as soon as she recognized Cloud. Her body started moving on its own, as if it knew that she could not face this certain person.

Cloud, who was left behind by Mia in the classroom, froze like a statue. Well, he already expected to get such a reaction, but it kinda hurt to actually experience it. Moreover, he just suddenly popped up in front of her even though he was supposed to approach her slowly.

Cloud sighed and scratched his head. "Now I've done it..."

Mia, on the other hand, ran away to the restroom, as it was the only place she could feel safe. She sat down on the shutted toilet's seat and started to collect her thoughts. Many things flew through her head. First of all, the stress and fear from being bullied earlier was still wearing her down. And then, there was Cloud, who suddenly came out of nowhere. Since when did he even come back? Moreover, he was a student in her school?

Of course she didn't notice Cloud, many things were occupying her mind for her to even spare a small bit to her surroundings. As stress built up from all of this, plus with the truth about the fake Vin in her dream and Vivi not being there to comfort her, Mia brokedown. She wished for Vivi to return soon, as selfish as it may sound. She hated herself for always depending on others.

The tears that streamed down on both of her cheeks, framing her trembling lips. Only her sobbing voices could be heard echoing throughout the empty restroom, which sounded lonely and pitiful.

Mia ended up staying in the restroom throughout the rest of the day.

------

Today too, Mia returned home tired, but she wasn't looking forward to bed time. Even though she used to enjoy them, now she just felt anxious every time she tugged into her bed. The reason was obvious, it's about the boy who had been disguising as Vin in her dream.

But before she closed her eyes, Mia also had one thing that had been bugging her mind. It was about Cloud who showed up in her classroom today. If you look at the situation at the time, he showed himself and started arguing with the bullies as he was standing in front of her. Was he defending her...? But why?

'No, there's no way he would do such a thing for someone as myself.' Mia wondered if she was overthinking. It was understandable since the memory that Cloud left her years ago, is still haunting her to this day.

------

In the dream, Mia found herself standing in a field of flowers, illuminated by the small lights of the fireflies flying around. The galactic night sky shone from above beautifully. But it was such a waste, because the person who received this specially made scenery, did not enjoy it. Mia did not enjoy it.

Since the night after she confronted the boy in her dream about his identity, Mia never saw him again, but the rest remained indifferent. Night after night, Mia was presented with different sceneries and locations as she woke up inside the dream. But she had never smiled once, not because what she saw weren't eyecandied, but because she was too mentally exhausted to appreciate them. Things hadn't been going well for her recently.

Mia laid down onto the patch of flowers beneath her as a cool breeze blew past her skin and observed the stars. Though she might not be able to appreciate them, it's better than being trapped in that empty, lonely, blank space.

------

Today was a day off from school. Mia woke up and started doing her chores as usual. She helped Rosaria, preparing breakfast and then tended to the garden. After finishing her routine, Mia was free so she went outside and sat on the swing near the orphanage. The whole time, with an empty expression.

As the swing slowly swung back and forth, Mia spaced out and slipped into a deep thought. She thought about what had been happening for the past few days. Since the day she met Cloud at school, Mia had been on high alert. She tried to be aware of her surroundings , making sure she wouldn't run into him, as she didn't know how to face him. But on the contrary, something good had also happened. The bully seemed to have stopped, they simply just ignored her.

"Mia!" the voice of Rosaria suddenly rang out from inside the orphanage, snapping Mia out of her head. "Mia? Where are you?"

"Y-Yes, Miss Rosaria. What is it?" Mia made her way to Rosaria.

"Mia! Look who's here to find you."

'Someone is here to see me? Who could it...?'

"Mia. Uhh, hey..." Cloud, who was standing next to Rosaria, waved at Mia, awkwardly.

'Huh? Cloud?!' Mia immediately turned back and ran away after she caught a glimpse of Cloud. And then Cloud also quickly ran after her. "Mia, Wait!"

'What is going on?! What is Cloud doing here?' many thoughts flew through Mia's head as she was running away.

Mia ran as fast as she could but Cloud eventually caught up, with his long legs. "Mia, please wait!" Cloud shouted and grabbed Mia's arm.

Mia stopped and Cloud could finally catch his breath. Mia was already shaking in fear and seeing Cloud's breathing heavily from the exhaustion, she thought he was mad and got even more scared.

Seeing Mia shaking like a chick in the rain in his presence, Cloud felt dejected. He then proceeded to do the unexpected. He got on his knees and shouted, "I'm really sorry!"

Mia, who was still shaking, is now confused by the sudden action. Cloud continued, "Mia, I would like to apologize for what happened years ago. Uhh... you know, back when we were younger, I said something very rude to you. I was young and naive back then, but after I said those words to you, I kept thinking about it every day. So right now, I want to sincerely apologize to you. I am sorry, I was wrong."

"..." Mia was silent at Cloud's words. She seemed to understand what was going on and finally calmed down a little, but still on edge. She looked down at Cloud who still had his head bowed, then spoke in a shaky voice, "...umm, let's go talk somewhere else."

Cloud lifted his head to Mia glancing left and right, weirdly, then he realized that the other kids were looking at them. Some time later, the two moved to somewhere more private. They both stood awkwardly in silence for a while, then Mia started talking first, "A-About what you said... Did you say you wanted to apologize to me?"

"Yes, that's right."

"T-Then, are you not mad at me?"

"Mad? Why would I be?"

"..." Mia was once again, in silence with her fingers fidgeting.

"Mia?"

"Then... Do you not hate me?"

"Of course not!"

Mia's eyes widened, and turned to Cloud. She was still processing what was going on but the relief she felt was as if a huge weight was lifted off of her shoulders. "But back then, why did you...?"

"...let me explain."

「 Way back when he was younger, Cloud would visit the orphanage regularly to play with Vin and Mia because they were friends. Until one day, a kid from the orphanage, Cary, told Cloud this, "Hey Cloud, you shouldn't hang out with Mia too much. She has a mysterious sickness and you will get sick too if you stay too close to her."

"Huh?! Mia is sick? Is she okay? Also, what's a 'mysterious sickness'?"

"Do you want to know?"

"Mhm!"

"Okay, tonight, when everyone goes to sleep, go peek inside her room."

Young and naive Cloud was curious about this 'mysterious sickness' that Mia had and wanted to find out what it was, so he did as Cary said. At midnight, after everyone went to sleep, Cloud sneaked his way to Mia's room. As he walked up to the door a loud bang suddenly rang from the inside, surprising him. He then proceeded to peek inside, which he was not prepared to.

Cloud was shocked by what he was seeing through the door's keyhole. What he saw on that night was the scene of Mia crying and screaming her lungs out as she bangs her head on the wall, a side of her that he had never seen. He then ran back to the room he was staying with unexplainable emotions, you could say he was traumatized by what he saw.

From that day onward, Cloud's image of Mia changed. He didn't necessarily hate her, but was definitely disturbed and alarmed at this 'mysterious sickness'. 」

"...Cary told you about my sleeping problem? But why?"

"I don't know. She just suddenly came up to me that day... Now that I think about it, I'm also wondering why she told me... strange."

"I see..." Mia had already known that Cary wasn't very fond of her, although she didn't know why. She remembered Cary would usually glare at her consistently, making her scared and nervous all the time.

"S-So about this 'mysterious sickness' thingy, it was just some kind of sleeping problem...?" Cloud awkwardly tried to confirm about this so-called sickness that he was so scared of. "Seemed like I got all worked up over nothing, haha."

"...that's right. I was never trying to hide it or anything, it's just the topic never came up. But after that day, I started to question myself and feel very insecure..."

Cloud felt guilty as he listened to Mia speaking. He knew well what she was talking about when she referred to 'that day'.

Mia continued, "I used to not be able to sleep well or afraid to go to sleep due to my strange dream..." Mia stopped at her words for a moment before continuing, "I said 'used to', but it seems like those dreams are returning."

"What do you mean?"

"No, nothing. Don't worry about it."

Cloud grasped his hands together and spoke, "Hey Mia, I know I had already said this, but... I'm really sorry about what I did. It seems like you really had a bad time after what I said."

Mia suddenly chuckled as Cloud finished speaking. "Have you been rehearsing this apology before coming here?"

"Wha...!?" Cloud blushed and turned away.

"Alright, I accept your apology."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you had bad intentions, after all."

A wide grin spread across Cloud's face. After years of misunderstanding and guilt, the two finally spoke up and talked it out with each other. Both of them felt a big relief.

"Oh, by the way, Mia."

"What is it?"

"What about Vin? Where is he now? I haven't seen him once since I came back."