Rebirth

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This is a collection of one shots centering around Ib/Eve and Mary. Some will be from my own imagination, and others will come from all of YOU, my dear, dear readers. Submit your ideas through either review or PM, and I'll have them up as soon as possible.

And now that that's out of the way…

I don't own Ib. Only saying it once. Because if I did own Ib, this wouldn't be on .

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The paintbrush felt right in her hands as Ib added on the first bit of color onto the canvas- a very pale yellow, for the background.

Ever since that incident at Guertena's exhibition, she'd been plagued with nightmares of a girl, burning, asking why she'd killed her. Asking what she did wrong. And it tore at her, until the burning blonde girl was all Ib could think about.

And then, just like that, she remembered.

She didn't remember all of it- she remembered that someone was with her, but she couldn't remember their name, or what they looked like.

But she remembered Mary, and she remembered that Mary was just a painting.

Just a painting.

A painting into which Weiss Guertena poured the very last bits of his soul into. A painting who'd only wanted to be with her.

A darker, purer yellow was added onto the canvas.

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Grinning, Ib stepped back and ran a hand across her brow. It had taken a lot of work- three weeks to get everything just right- but finally, it was done.

The innocent face of Mary smiled back at her, and for a moment, Ib thought it was genuine.

Exhausted, Ib slumped down against the wall beside the easel and closed her eyes.

"Good night, Mary…"

And in her sleep, she dreamed.

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"Ib-chan…you came back for me…"

Her gallery wasn't as large as Guertena's- and she wasn't sure if it would ever get anywhere close to that size- but it might've only seemed bigger because there weren't many paintings in it.

"Ne, Ib-chan…I'm lonely…won't you play with me?"

"Of course, Mary. What shall we play?"

"Hmm…how about…Tag!"

Something glinted in Mary's hand, and Ib didn't even have time to process how she'd even gotten hold of a palette knife before she found it in her chest.

"Heehee! You're "it", Ib-chan! And now, you won't be able to leave me alone again!"

And everything went black.

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There was red paint, and there was pain. Only a split second, but to her, it felt like ages.

Empty red eyes opened slowly, to be greeted by a cheerful electric blue.

"Ib! You're awake!"

"Ib"? Was that her name?

"You're still a little tired, huh…but that's okay! I'll help you wake up!"

And suddenly a set of cold lips pressed themselves against hers, and Ib felt wide awake.

Mary had indeed helped her wake up.

The blonde pulled away.

"Teehee! Awake now?"

Ib nodded.

"Good! Now we can play together! Heeheehee! Let's go!"

She helped Ib stand up, and showed her into the house she'd created for them.

"Ne, Ib?"

"Yes, Mary?"

"I heard that friends give each other kisses. And I was your first, right?"

"…Yes."

"Heehee! Then that means I'm your best friend! And that means you can't be friends with anyone else! Got it?"

"….Yes, Mary."