Her heart ached sorely.

She could barely comprehend her thoughts as she broke down in tears. Her blankets were tightly clenched in her fists, shielding her face away from the world.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself, it was simply too much. Her resolution was slowly tearing her apart; a piece of her insistently believed that Zero was still alive, waiting for the right moment to come back. Yet, at the same time, another part was convinced that he was long gone—after all, why else would he not have returned after so long? It'd been two years since the fall of Ragnarok at Zero's hands, and there was no sign of him anywhere.

Except for his broken helmet at the crash site, Ciel duly noted, sparing a glance at the red headpiece carefully stowed onto the edge of her shelf. Only his helmet.

It was highly likely that he was hiding away; it was possible that he might have sealed himself away again—just as he did before Ciel found him in the ancient laboratory. That might have explained why the Resistance soldiers, and many others, including her, were not able to find anything other than the helmet on the crash site. But it was also equally possible that he'd been completely destroyed in the explosion and fall, with his helmet being the only thing that survived it all (being that it was in a horrid condition either way). And that was what haunted her every dream at night: the mere thought of him not surviving through it all, despite his reputable tendency to cheat death.

Zero, the legendary fighter; the one she loved, dying.

She could feel her heart twist itself into a knot, an uncomfortable tightness swelling in her chest. There's no way, she thought, holding back another sob. He told me to believe in him. He put his faith in us—I need to place my faith in him.

"Why, though?" she felt herself ask hoarsely, barely audibly.

The lights slowly flickered off, settling her in the darkness of the room. She closed her eyes, biting her lip as she huddled herself into a small ball buried underneath her blankets. It felt awfully familiar; it was not the first time this happened, after all. But the raw pain was always the same, if not, worse, each time.

She wanted for it to stop hurting so much. She wanted to believe completely in Zero. She wantedfor so many things, but her constricted heart told her that she would never be able to have them. And she would have to live with it.

"Don't be selfish, Ciel," she muttered quietly. "You promised him. You promised Zero that you'd create a peaceful world where humans and Reploids could live together in harmony. Not mope around over … over … this."

She felt like she was going to choke on her words, but was the only thing keeping her going. She was working on a promise; one that she intended to keep, no matter what. I can't rely on Zero for everything, right? she asked herself. After all, I said that I would create that perfect world…

As she let herself be tugged into the deep recesses of her mind, back to her seemingly endless sleep, she could have sworn that she saw the barest trace of a smile—his smile—flash at her, as if approving of her decision.

And, for the first time in ages, she felt her nightmares dispel into a much calmer, happier dream.

"I believe in you, Ciel."

She smiled.

Hello, this is my first story on here! I hope you can forgive any mistakes I made; I'm really sorry if I made Ciel too OOC.

Thanks a ton for taking your time to read my little oneshot! u_u