"Hey, Alex..."
"Yes, Luna?"
Luna bit her lip, thinking. "It's been a while since we've been over to the continent, hasn't it?"
Alex shrugged. "I suppose, why?"
Luna smiled. "Well, I thought it might be a good idea to go over there and see how everyone's doing."
Alex shrugged again. "Why not?" he said. "But why now, all of a sudden?"
"Oh, I have to have a reason now?" Luna laughed. "I can't just want to go?"
"I didn't say that!" Alex protested.
Luna giggled. "You can be so silly sometimes... So are we going to go or not?"
"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't. Do you want to pack or should we just go?"
"To Vane, then."
"Yeah, I don't know why I'm surprised about that."
"Or why that wasn't the first place we looked for this."
He turned to her. "Oh, well... too late now, huh?"
She sat down on a nearby rock. "I suppose." She sighed, and pulled her knee-length hair over one shoulder and began examining it for knots. "But..." she said, pulling on one. "Is this one book really worth it? Is any one thing worth all the trouble we're going through for this?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. And I don't think we will know until we find out."
"You're right, of course..." she sighed. "You're always right... So what makes you want to hang around an idiot like me?"
He sighed. "Please, don't get like that again... Please..."
She didn't say anything, just bit her lip and kept examining her hair for knots. Finally, she whispered, "If you tell me to go away, I will..."
He sat down next to her on the rock and looked deep into her royal purple eyes. He paused, then said, "Why would I tell you to go away?"
She stopped going through her hair and just sat there for a few minutes. She bit her lip as the wet heaviness in the bottom of her eyes threatened to escape. As she threw her arms around him, she ceased all efforts to stop the onrush of tears. "B... because I'm stupid, and I'm crazy, and I must just be a complete bother, and, and..." She broke off, and just sobbed onto him.
Very gently, he put his arms around her. He had to tread very lightly right now, otherwise... "You're as far from stupid as anyone can possibly be..." he whispered. "And you have never, ever been a bother..."
She stopped her sobbing long enough to look directly at him and say, "But I'm still crazy..."
He ran his hand through her hair as he replied, "Nobody's perfect..."
She snorted. "Yeah, but I doubt that the whole 'crazy' thing is a single flaw in an otherwise perfect painting."
He shrugged. "Who's to really say? Perfection's as much a matter of opinion as anything else."
"Thank you for your reassurement."
"Hey, just because you're an insecure nut doesn't mean you're not otherwise perfect."
"Oh, so I'm insecure, now, too?"
He bit back a laugh. "Well, aren't you?"
"Of course I am, but you're not allowed to say it..."
"And who made up this rule?"
"I did, of course."
"You're impossible."
"Good impossible or bad impossible?"
"Guess."
"I apologize for my behaviour earlier. It was uncalled for."
"What? No, it's all right. Don't worry about it."
Mhaiera shook her head, making her earrings jingle together. "It's not all right," she said firmly. "I was being a complete ass, and you just took it... took it like it was nothing..."
Mia smiled softly. "It is nothing... You've always been more than accomodating with us, even when we've been less than reasonable. And you are right, we shouldn't have been having you followed, it's just--"
"I am the sort of person who you might expect to find themselves hurt through pure lack of regard for themselves, particularly when wandering around through ruins, is that it?" Mhaiera finished in an oddly dead tone. "I really wouldn't worry about that... Despite all indications to the contrary, I do still have some measure of a sense of self-preservation, and I am quite capable of... insuring that said sense does not go... unheeded, shall we say?"
Mia shrugged. "I'll have to take your word on that, you've never... shown anything like that. But I don't see any reason not to believe you."
Mhaiera nodded. "And I thank you for that. And, truly, your concern is appreciated, if not welcome. I merely have to... adjust to recieving such sentiment from sources that I do not... anticipate. I am not quite... used to acting alone. Nor do I like it, but..."
"How do you mean that?" Mia asked.
Mhaiera looked at Mia for a while, then finally said, "Oh, nevermind..." She paused then, looking thoughtful. "Hey... have you ever had a very odd dream... One completely unlike a dream you would normally have?"
Mia shrugged slightly. "I might have. I don't really remember, though. Why do you ask?"
Mhaiera's eyes grew very distant, and when she spoke, she used a tone greatly unlike one Mia had ever heard her use before. She sounded serene, composed, and slightly confused as she said, "Last night... I had a dream. Not at all like my normal dreams... There was... A little girl, around five years old, if I had to guess... Her hair... was like silver fire, melting, and flowing, and burning... Her hair was longer than she was, even... But her eyes... Her hair was like fire, but her eyes were like purest, brilliant ice... I have never seen such a clear blue before, and I doubt I ever will again. She... she looked at me with those eyes, those too-blue eyes, and she... and she said... 'Not all hope is futile, but that does not mean that all hope is not...' and then she just kept staring at me until I woke up..." Mhaiera shook her head then, trying to clear it.
Mia nodded. "That is an odd dream... If you don't mind my asking, what are your dreams usually like?"
Mhaiera tilted her head and looked at Mia. After a bit, she said, "Actually, I do mind you asking... I don't know you well enough to be discussing such with you... Suffice it to say my dreams are... enjoyable."
With that, she gave Mia a dirty smirk and said, "Well, this has been... not quite 'fun', but what else can I call it? But I must be going, I have a few... projects to attend to."
She left.