She willed her heart to beat, herself to breathe.
He looked away, staring at his hands.
She looked at his hands too, but the Ring burned her eyes, forcing them shut.
She took a breath.
She didn't know where to start.
"Wha...". She swallowed. "What happened?"
He looked at her, his eyes and mixture of caution, confusion, and concern.
"You were gone."
This seemed to be all he could muster, and all she could comprehend at the moment.
He looked away, but turned back to her when he heard her shudder.
"Two years."
Her eyes glazed over as new thoughts and questions flew through her mind. Where was I? What happened to Will? My father? Francie?
"Oh God Francie..."
During the fight she never got to think about what happened to the real Francie, her best friend. She knew that she was killed without having to question Vaughn. This brought her to tears more than anything else.
She let out a sob.
"Syd..."
But she held her hand up. She swallowed and wiped a tear from her eye, and glanced at the Ring.
"Who is she?"
Vaughn looked away, and put the ring in his pocket.
"Syd. I think it's a little too early..."
"Michael."
He sighed. Out of all the times she could have used his name, she chose now.
"You were gone." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You... died."
Sydney let the tears fall as she got up and crossed to the window. She put her hand up to the glass.
"Hong Kong..."
"Syd, I should explain."
"Are there any explanations?"
She didn't know whether she meant about the Ring, what had happened to her, or the grand scheme of things.
She turned to him.
"There are things I need to hear..." she sighed. "And things I need to say."
He rubbed his forehead and then clasped his hands together and looked up at the ceiling.
"I know."
He looked into her eyes, the first real eye contact during the whole confrontation.
Her lip started to tremble.
"How's Will?"
Vaughn looked down. "He's fine. It took awhile to recover, but he seems to be the same old Will."
She began to tear up, but managed a small smile.
"He's missed you... we all have."
She couldn't fight it any longer.
She sunk down to the floor, sobbing into her hands.