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She had just been back at Ashford attending classes and student council meetings, just like she had done many years ago.
How did she end up here?
She was staring down a hallway, and there seemed to be no end in sight. It was white. All white. It was so bright that it hurt her eyes.
She turned around. There was no exit. The walls of the hallway were narrow and cramped. She had nowhere to go but forward.
There was a sickly feeling in her stomach as she began to walk.
“Hello?” she spoke while she stepped forward. Her voice echoed off the walls. It didn’t look like she was getting anywhere. “Can anyone hear me? Hello? How do I get out of here?!”
No response.
She continued walking, unsure if she was actually moving forward. It suddenly felt like if she remained in this space any longer, she would begin to suffocate. Now panicking, she started running as fast as she could. “Someone help me! Let me out!”
“You won’t get out of here.”
She came to a halt, turning around slowly to see who had spoken to her. A woman stood there, long pink hair and bright blue eyes, as gorgeous as she'd ever been.
“Princess Euphemia?”
“You won’t get out of here, Nina,” she repeated.
“Princess Euphemia!” Nina cried as she fell to her knees and gripped onto her skirt. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“I’m not here to save you, Nina.” Euphemia grabbed the girl’s chin and tilted it up. “You can stay here forever. This is your punishment.”
Nina’s eyes widened in horror. “My punishment?” She shook her head. “I...I didn’t mean to...”
“Feeling sorry for yourself isn’t going to bring them back."
“I...” Nina sputtered, inhaling shakily before the tears began to fall.
“How can you cry? Millions of people are dead because of you. They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends. They had people they loved and cared for, just like you do. They all had dreams and ambitions, and their lives were cut short because of you. How can you sit here and cry?”
Nina didn’t have any words. It was a question she asked herself quite often.
“You are pathetic, Nina. You’ll stay here for the rest of time so you can suffer, like you deserve.” With those cold words, the princess began to walk away.
“No, wait... Princess Euphemia!” Nina reached her hand out. “Please don’t leave me!!!”
Euphemia no longer spoke to her.
Nina staggered to her feet, chasing after the girl.
Euphemia exited the room through a door, slamming it shut.
“Wait!!” As soon as she reached the door, it disappeared. “Let me out!!” She pounded her fits against the white wall.
It was no use.
She turned around and began running down the hallway once more. The silence from before was now filled with noise. Voices. Muttering and whispering all around her.
“Did you hear that Nina is a lesbian?”
“I hope she doesn’t get a crush on me!”
“Why does someone as amazing as Milly always hang around her? Milly deserves a better friend than her.”
“I’ve heard she treats Milly like garbage too!”
“You couldn’t pay me enough to be Nina’s friend.”
“Nina’s a whore. She tries to hide it, but we all know.”
“SHUT UP!!!” Nina screamed, covering her ears. It did nothing to drown out the noise.
“That girl made F.L.E.I.J.A. She belongs behind bars!”
“Over 35 million casualties...”
“My wife and son...! They’re gone!”
“Momma... Where is momma...”
“And now she’s feeling sorry for herself, trying to get people’s sympathy.”
Nina couldn’t keep running. She fell to her knees, holding her head. The words continued swimming around her, coming from every direction. They wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t make it go quiet.
...
...
...
Nina jolted awake with a loud scream that pierced the silence of the house.
Milly startled awake, sitting up almost immediately. “Nina?!” She reached to her side and turned on the lamp. This was something that Milly was used to. Nina’s mind, though brilliant, never failed to torment her. “Nina! It’s okay! You were dreaming!”
Nina didn’t seem to hear her. “I’M SORRY!”
“NINA!!!” Milly grabbed the girl’s shoulders firmly and shook her once. “Nina, you were dreaming! It’s okay!”
Milly seemed to get through to her that time. Her chest heaved up and down as she caught her breath, her eyes darting around the room while she tried to make sense of what was going on. It didn’t take that brilliant mind of hers long to piece the situation together. Once it made sense, once she knew what was happening, she began to cry quietly.
That’s right. It did make sense. That’s part of the reason why it always hurt so bad.
“Nina…” Milly pulled the girl into a hug.
She leaned into Milly’s chest. “I’m s-sorry, I woke you u-up.”
“It’s okay. That doesn’t matter to me.” Milly stroked her green hair gently. “It was all a bad dream, okay? I’m right here.” She could feel that Nina’s body was drenched in sweat.
Nina sat there in her arms for a minute, sniffling. “W-Where are we right now M-Milly?” Nina reached for her phone on the nightstand. “W-Where’s Suzaku?”
"We're... in our house? In Texas?" Milly was perplexed by the question. "Suzaku is at HQ in Hawaii right now... What are you doing?"
Nina tapped her phone a few times, then put it up to her ear. “I-I have to make sure Suzaku doesn’t hate me…”
“What? Why would he hate you? Nina, he’s probably asleep…”
There was an expression of relief on Nina's face whenever he answered.
“Nina?”
“S-S-Suzaku!!” Nina sputtered. “I’m s-sorry to wake you up.”
“You didn’t wake me up… Here, one second.” He hung up, but quickly called again, this time using video call. He saw that her face was red and wet, tear marks streaking down her cheeks.
“Suzaku, you...don’t hate me, right?”
“What? No, not at all.” It was dark where he slept, but his face was illuminated by a single lamp.
“Nightmare?”
“Yea…” Nina took a deep, shaky breath. “And I take it you can’t sleep?”
Suzaku shook his head. “The last dream I had was really painful, so I don't want to sleep tonight.”
Nina rolled over onto her stomach and propped the phone up on her pillow. “Milly, say hi.”
Milly had been silently watching the whole thing, unsure if she should say something or not. “Err… Hi Suzaku!” She joined Nina and pulled the covers back up over them.
“Oh, Milly! I didn’t know you were there. Hi!”
“I wanna talk to you for a little bit. Hearing your voice might help calm me down,” Nina said.
Suzaku nodded. “Honestly, that’s a good idea. It gets lonely over here… I don’t do well when I’m by myself. How’s it going between you two?”
“Oh, it’s amazing!” Milly exclaimed before giving Nina a kiss on the cheek.
Nina huffed. “She’s overly affectionate and annoying.”
“But you love me.” Milly said, grinning wide.
“That I do…”
Suzaku laughed. “You two are so perfect for each other. Life just keeps moving forward. So much is changing, but I’m glad everyone still makes an effort to see me despite it all… Oh, guys, look at this.” He turned his phone to where the two girls could see the cat curled up next to him. “At least someone is getting some sleep.”
“Aww, Arthur!” Milly gushed.
Nina chuckled. “Look at him, not a care in the world."
“Suzaku, oh my god,” Milly began suddenly, “I have the funniest story to tell.”
“You’d better not-” Nina started.
“I’m totally gonna! So we were out drinking the other day with Kallen, and Nina drank a little too much! Kallen ended up having to carry her home. Let me show you the video!” Milly reached for her phone and texted it to Suzaku.
In the video, Nina was stumbling around outside at night. It seemed that they were all on their way home. Kallen walked beside her, catching her when she occasionally stumbled.
“Hey Nina, how many fingers am I holding up?” Milly asked from behind the camera.
“Don’t play with me, Milly.” Her words slurred as she spoke. “Two isn’t enough and you know it.”
Milly and Kallen bursted into laughter.
On Nina and Milly’s end, it was silent while Suzaku watched until he finally began to chuckle. “That sure is Nina, alright.”
They chatted some more about life, and eventually, Suzaku began to yawn. “Well, if my body is offering me some sleep, I guess I’ll take the opportunity.”
“You aren’t worried about the nightmares?” Nina asked.
“It’ll be fine. I’m less tense since I got to talk to you guys. I hope you’ve relaxed too, Nina. Get some rest if you can, alright? Nice talking to you guys.”
“You too!” Nina said, smiling wide. “Sleep well, Suzaku!”
“Good night!” Milly waved.
When the call ended, Nina set her phone back on her nightstand, noticing the time. “It’s 4 A.M. Might as well get up.”
“What? It’s the weekend! Chill out some!”
Nina sat up, putting her feet on the floor. “I don’t do chill. There’s plenty of stuff for me to do. I’m already awake now. Plus, I’m hungry.” She got her wedding ring from her nightstand and slipped it onto her ring finger.
“Whatever,” Milly said, rolling herself out of bed and doing the same. “I’ll get up too, then. But don’t get mad if I doze back off on the couch!”
Nina found her slippers and put them on. “You can sleep all you want. I’ll put the science channel on, since I know that’s like a lullaby to you.”
“Cut me some slack! They use big words that I don’t know the meaning of!” Milly laughed as she stood up to join her. “Nina… Are you sure you’re alright now?”
She nodded. “I’m back in a good mindset now. Plus, I feel positively motivated. I don’t wanna let that go to waste.”
Milly exhaled with relief. “I’m glad. Let’s get the day started, then!”