It started just a meager few hours ago.

"Alice!" Runo burst into the said young woman's room, her face full of distress. Alice turned to smile at the flustered girl, the smile fading at the horror and terror in those usually calm eyes. "What's wrong Runo?"

"Y-Your grandfather…" Runo stammered. "His lab….something about a gas leak…an explosion…"

It was almost funny, really.

"The firefighters said it could be extinguished, but I'm not sure if he made it out all right." Runo chattered worriedly in the car, foot pressed almost completely to the floor on the accelerator.

Alice was in a shock, her mind warping around this dizzying chain of events. "Grandfather…"

She stood in front of the smoldering ruin that was her grandfather's lab, and felt as if the world had thrown not just a curveball, but a boulder-sized meteor at her as well. Her faithful Hydranoid stood on her shoulder, shifting uneasily from tiny foot to tiny foot.

When they arrived on scene, a fireman immediately accosted her, face sooty and full of awkward sympathy. "I'm so sorry miss. We found him. He didn't make it."

Her world went on standby.

Runo sat her down in the car, expecting a flood of raw grief, but honestly, it all felt too surreal. Her face went on lockdown, suppressing the emotions that raced through her.

It was raining like the heavens wanted to drown her, but here, in the rain, it was peaceful and warm. It was a summer shower, and it wasn't cold at all. Her eyes stared sightlessly at the lab, and wondered why her grandfather died in a simple explosion and survived so many other crises.

"Alice? You alright?" Others were speaking to her, trying to bring her back. There were voices too; a concerned masculine voice that sounded suspiciously like Dan Kuso, a distressed female voice that might have been Julie Makimoto. But she just wanted to be alone with Hydranoid and try to remember what her grandfather said to her last.

"You shouldn't be out in the rain."

A voice that finally registered in her mind. Shun Kazami was standing just behind her, holding an umbrella in his hand. His usually sharp eyes were softened by a minuscule amount, but they were softened nonetheless.

"Shun." The word was all that came out of her mouth. The young man walked silently to her side so that the umbrella now shielded both of them at once. "You're soaked." He observed. "I'll take you home."

That emptiness in her frightened her beyond compare. She buried her face in Shun's back as he drove her home on his motorcycle, and his silence comforted her better than words.

At night, she was awakened by a nightmare. Of course the nightmares would come. This one was particularly terrifying, because the lab was enflamed with green fire, and her grandfather was crying out to her to help him. And when she moved to save him, her arm caught on fire and her body became a pyre to her dying grandfather.

She turned over to see if she had woken Runo, than she realized that she was in Shun's home. She vaguely remembered Runo apologizing as she had to accommodate Julie and Marucho since the latter's home was under reconstruction, and Shun offering his house for her.

Now she noticed the smooth bamboo walls, and the curious paper screen windows, and felt her heartbeat slow down. From next door, she could hear Shun's grandfather snoring.

Shun had warned her about that with a half-smile. "If he doesn't snore, then either he's dead or he had some really good sinus decongestion medicine." He had gently joked before they went to bed.

Alice felt a flood of emotions overwhelm her at this point. Her own grandfather had snored with a wheezing rattle, and now as she listened to the similar sound through the thin wall, the tears came, and she buried her head in the sheets and let the pent-up sobs out.

At first all she could feel was anguish, despair, grief and sorrow, and a sort of self-loathing at her own self-pity as she knew her grandfather was at rest and was in a better place. Then a sort of eerie calm came after the storm, and she drew in a shuddering breath and wiped her eyes, which were surely red and bleary by now.

Then she heard very soft footfalls, and turned to see Shun slide open the door, dressed in his own night clothes, holding a tray with teacups in his hands. "I thought this might help." He said in a low tone, walking over to her and setting the tray on the tiny desk next to the wall. "It calmed me down when I was mourning for my mother."

"Sorry." Alice cringed at the thought of her weeping echoing through the house; the walls were made out of paper after all. "Don't be." Shun replied, leaning back on his heels. "It's natural to grieve for a loved one."

Alice watched as he poured the tea, the steam arising along with the aroma of the herbs and heady leaves. She felt much better after her cry, but she still felt a little dead inside. She desperately hoped she didn't look like that, however. Alice was grateful to Shun and his little acts of kindness, because they meant more to her than any sort of over-the-top gesture.

"Alice." She started when Shun spoke her name, and she turned to see him looking at her with a slightly worried expression. She must've been drifting off again.

"Do you need some time alone?" He was about to leave, about to leave her with her nightmarish thoughts, and she shook her head violently, her orange curls bouncing. "No, please." Her voice was hoarse, and it only added to her frustration at her inability to remain calm and composed. "I'd rather not be by myself."

He nodded, and remained in companionable silence by the table, sipping his own cup of tea, and Alice again was swamped by the intensity of her feelings. She was now debating whether to cry and embarrass herself in front of Shun forever or pluck it up and keep a dam on her feelings.

Again, Shun was probably reading her mind, because he said quietly, "If you want to cry again, please don't refrain yourself. It's worse to bottle up your feelings then to let it go. Otherwise you will burst and all the negative emotion will overpower you."

Alice shuddered, the tears already knocking on her door. "I know…but when my parents died, my friends told me sometimes that tears of grief were more like self-pity, that we should not be crying for our loved one."

"That's not true." Shun said suddenly with a hint of anger. "We cry for our own loss, true, and some may call it self-pity. But it is a way to mourn, and mourning is a natural part of life just as laughing is. Lack of either is unhealthy. Cry, Alice, and don't let any other person tell you otherwise." His voice was broken, and Alice realized that he was thinking of his mother, who had died with a smile on her lips and her son's tears on her shirt.

"Shun…" Alice let out a gasp as she abruptly found a black haired young man crying in her room, wiping the tears off angrily and cursing silently under his breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…."

Alice moved to his side, trembling with the suppressed emotions, and tentatively put her arms around him. He started, and relaxed as she drew in another shuddering breath, trying to control her breathing, letting out a "whoof" of air then drawing it in again. "Don't be." She whispered. "It's natural to grieve for a loved one."

O.O

In the morning, Shun's grandfather found the two teens on the floor, cold tea in the little teacups, and tears drying in the morning sunshine. Alice was asleep, but Shun was running his hand through her hair again and again, gazing at her like she was the moon on a dark night.

And then Shun's grandfather knew with a small sad smile. There will be no tears at the funeral.

A/N: WAAAAAAY too sad then what I had originally in mind. Hope you all like it! Like and review!