Garry's eyes fluttered open, feeling slowly returning to his limbs and body. He raised his head and felt the ground with his hand for his rose. Gently—ever so gently—Garry's hand felt only the cold hard tiles beneath him. Where was his rose?

Ib...

The name crept into his half-asleep mind. Ib. The girl who saved his life thousands of times. Ib. The nine-year-old girl who was even more clever than him, despite the age differences. Ib. A normal human being from the outside world. Just like him. A small smile crept onto his lips, and his eyes fluttered shut again.

My rose...

Mary...

Garry's eyes flew open in an instant. Mary! That witch of a child took his rose! That's why he was lying on the floor! That's why he couldn't find his rose!

His surroundings came back. He was in a gallery, in the middle of an empty hallway. The color matched his jacket perfectly, like camoflauge. On his green T-shirt, a dark red orb had sprouted in the center of his chest, about the size of one of the creepy dolls he had run into. Blood. No doubt.

But where is Ib?

Panic filled Garry's chest. Ib was nowhere to be seen. Was she okay? Was she dead? Did she escape? And where was Mary?

"Ib..." he croaked weakly.

Garry gathered all of his strength, pushing against the wall he was leaning against and got to his feet. His chest nearly exploded with pain, and he clutched a hand over the blood. "Ib... Where are you...?"

Garry began to limp through the hallway, in the direction that he last remembered Ib running down. Ib had promised to come back, to bring back his rose and heal him. Ib was a great kid. She didn't deserve to be trapped in a stupid art gallery. She didn't deserve to brush against death so many times. But she was brave to. And Garry had to respect her.

You're a coward, Garry. You screamed and ran and acted like a young child compared to her. She calmly pressed on. Unlike YOU!

"Shut up," Garry grumbled. "Ib, I promise that when I find you, I'm going to love you like a sister. You're brave, strong, smart, and fast. I promise that you will get out of here, with or without me. I will find you."

"Ib!" he shouted. "IB!"

"Garry!"

Garry froze in place. That was Ib's voice! He took in a sharp breath. "IB! Where are you?"

"GARRY! HELP ME!"

Ib was in trouble. He burst into a run down the hall, ignoring the horrible pain in his body. "I'M COMING IB! HANG ON!"

"GARRY! STOP! DON'T COME OVER HERE!"

"IB!" Garry tackled a door and looked inside. "IB! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

"Garry...!" Ib's voice started to become faint.

Garry felt another stab of pain travel down his body. He cringed and felt the blood spread. "Ib! Where are you! I can't find you!"

"Garry..."

The pain felt sharper. Garry's vision turned red. There was a door on the other side of the room. Ib's voice was coming from there. He just had to open the door and find her. Garry took a painful step. "Ib!" he screamed. "Ib! IB!"

Garry collapsed to the floor. Ib's voice had faded into nothing, and darkness was starting to take over his vision. Sleep. That's what he needed. His eyelids felt like pure lead as they slowly fluttered shut...

"Ib..." Garry whispered, strength fading away. "I'm sorry... I promised to take you to a café... To buy you macaroons... I guess those will have to wait..."

Mary stood above him, holding his rose in her hand. Slowly, Mary picked off a petal, leaving only four to remain. "Loves me... loves me not... loves me..."

Garry's consciousness flooded into an almost complete darkness. There was only one petal left, and Mary threw the rose violently to the ground. The painting girl scowled at him. "You should have stayed put. I wouldn't have had to do that if you did. Ib was stupid and selfish. I can't believe I wanted her for a sister."

Mary stomped off, leaving a barely conscious Garry on the ground, staring at the last petal on his rose.

"Ib..." he murmured sleepily. His eyes closing again. He sighed, and drifted away from his body. He would check on Ib after he took a quick nap.

Ib walked into a room, holding the silver lighter that used to belong to Garry in her fist. Mary would pay. Ib would get Garry's rose back and put it in the first vase she saw. Then she and him could escape! They could go to the real world!

There was a crumpling sound of cellophane, and Ib stopped walking. She reached into the pocket in her red skirt and pulled out the lemon candy Garry gave to her. It was no larger than a cough drop. It probably was a cough drop. But Ib didn't care. It was a small token of kindness that Garry had chosen to give her when she woke up in the library. Garry had shown her a sweet act of brotherly-love.

Her fist tightened against the lighter. She would repay the kindness by getting Garry's flower back. It was the least she could do. She could be swept into a trance of nostalgia later.

"IB!"

The call of her name filled her with panic. It was Garry. Joy and relief filled Ib's chest. "Garry!"

Mary suddenly appeared behind her, grabbing the nine-year-old girl from behind and throwing the lighter to the ground. She held a pallet knife to Ib's throat.

Ib panicked. "GARRY! HELP ME!"

"I'M COMING IB! HANG ON!" Garry's voice became louder.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Mary hissed into Ib's ear, pressing the pallet knife deeper into her neck. "Otherwise I'm gonna have another blue petal on my floor!" Mary teasingly waved Garry's flower in front of Ib's face. Eight blue petals clung to the stem.

Ib realized who Mary was threatening quickly, and her red eyes turned wide. Pounding footsteps were coming towards where her and Mary were. She had to warn Garry. "GARRY! STOP! DON'T COME OVER HERE!"

"IB!" There was a pause as a heavy SLAM! echoed near the room. "IB! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Mary giggled, using the tip of the pallet knife to skewer three petals and pluck them from the stem. Five left. Ib heard a wail of pain, then something heavy crumple to the floor. Ib started to shriek, but Mary smoothly butted the handle of the pallet knife against the back of Ib's skull. The brunette crumpled to the ground, her consciousness fading quickly. She reached out towards the door that her true friend was just behind. "Garry...!"

Mary plucked off another petal, watching as the silky blue bit of flower drifted to the floor. Mary grunted bitterly. "I wanted you to be my sister. I wanted to take you back to the outside world. We could have been family!"

Mary stormed off.

Ib felt the dark tug at her mind. He reached out farther, pain pounding against her skull. "Garry..." she moaned.

It's okay, Ib. You can sleep for a little bit. You're safe in here.

Ib's eyelids closed, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Garry...

The collage student groaned, fighting to stay asleep. He was comfortable, tired, and aching all over.

Garry... Stop...

He pulled his jacket over his shoulders. He probably had fallen asleep while pulling an all-nighter for collage. It happened all the time. He would wake up when his alarm rang.

Garry... Wake up... You need to find Ib...

Garry's eyes slowly opened, revealing him to be in the room he had fallen unconscious in earlier. His rose was in front of him, barely clinging on to the one petal that was holding his life force together. Instinctively, he grabbed the flower and held it protectively. He didn't need long. Just a few minutes at the most.

Find Ib...

Garry instantly obeyed, crawling on the floor to the door just in front of him. Ib was behind the door, and he knew that. Garry pulled himself to his feet, and pushed the door open.

Ib lay on the ground, curled into a ball and shivering as if she were in snow in the middle of winter. Her rose lay to her left, and Garry's silver lighter was clenched in one of her hands. Did she try to kill Mary?

The nine-year-old brunette murmured something in her sleep. Garry stumbled over carefully kneeling down next to the girl and pulling off his jacket. It more battered than before and covered in blood, but he was sure she wouldn't care. Garry laid the jacket tenderly over Ib.

Ib sighed in her sleep. "I'm sorry... Garry..."

Tears welled up in his eyes. Why should she be apologizing? None of this was her fault.

Garry placed Ib's head on his lap, leaning against the wall weakly. The entire process had only taken one-and-a-half minutes, and it had already sapped his strength. His rose lay next to his lap, still clinging to the single petal. Ib's rose had three petals left, so she still had a good chance of surviving.

Garry felt a smile tug at his lips. "I found you, Ib..."

The young girl's red eyes opened, staring at Garry with confusion. "G—Garry...?"

The young man gave a weak smile. "Hey..."

Ib seemed to realize what was happening to him quickly. "Oh god!" Ib tried to sit up, but groaned and stayed on Garry's lap. "You're bleeding!"

Garry shook his head. "Nah. I'm fine. I'm just worried about you."

Ib's eyes smarted. "You're dying! Mary almost killed you!" A tear traced down her cheek. "No, Garry! I don't want you to die! You saved me! You gave up your rose for mine and almost died! No! It's my fault!"

Garry managed a strained laugh. "It's not your fault, Ib. You gave me so much, and it was time for me to pay you back. I guess I was overdue a bit." Garry cringed, the blood soaking into his T-shirt. "I promise, it had nothing to do with you."

Ib burst into tears, sitting up and hugging Garry. Despite the pain flaring in his body, Garry held back a few complaints and cradled Ib in his arms. Ib wailed. "No! Don't leave me alone! You promised we would get out together! We would go to a café and have macaroons! We would see each other again!"

Garry brushed his thumb under the young girl's eyes, wiping away the tears. "Don't cry. I know I promised that... But that will have to wait..."

Ib buried her face in his chest. "No! It's not fair! It's not fair!"

Garry's vision turned red, and he winced. "I know, Ib... But I promise I will fulfill that promise some other day. I promise."

Ib kept crying into Garry's chest, and he cradled her, saying soothing words and trying to comfort her. Ib didn't calm down, but kept wailing about how everything that was happening to them was unfair and stupid. Garry had to agree, but it was how life was. Life was unfair. Life was stupid.

Ib finally fell asleep, still hugging Garry and tears etched through the soot and dirt on her face. Garry smiled. "I'm sorry, Ib. It's my fault."

Tears fell down his own face, dropping into his palm.

Slowly, Garry picked up his rose from the ground.

He turned towards the sleeping Ib, a small sigh escaping her lips.

"Ib... You were the sister I never had..." he whispered hoarsely, "and I want to thank you for that. You gave me— You gave me so much, and I'm sorry I gave nothing back."

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead gently, brotherly-like.

"Good-bye, and please get out of here. I want you to live a long, happy life."

Garry pulled the last petal.

Twenty Years Later

Ib stared at the portrait of the sleeping man in her favorite art gallery, sorrow and anger filling her heart. Why did Garry have to leave her behind? He gave her a promise. He didn't keep his promise. He broke it in two. Now he was gone.

Ib opened her palm, revealing the silver lighter that once belonged to Garry. On the very bottom corner, there was a name engraved in cursive.

GARRY.

Ib sighed and stuffed the lighter in her pocket, moving on to the next painting. She knew what she had to do next. She had been preparing for it for the past twenty years.

Ib walked over to the Fabricated World painting, and touched the canvas.

No. Not my usual thing. But believe it or not, my first Fan Fiction was an Ib story.

I deleted it, of course.

So, thank you for reading!

-The Awesomer