The glass shattered underneath her. Mio fell into the darkness, desperately reaching for the sky. The bassist felt cold water envelop her as she fell into a dark blue sea. Air bubbles poured down like tiny droplets of rain storming from the surface as she fell, glowing as they fell and lighting up the ocean.

Mio's hair fanned out as she glided slowly down into the ocean depths, her hands no longer reaching for the sky.

A street light at the bottom of the ocean lit up as Mio's feet hit the ground. The pressure of the ocean sent her immediately to her knees and Mio struggled to stand back up, holding her neck as she struggled to breathe.

Suddenly the ground seemed to explode as the sand rippled and then erupted, turning transparent and disappearing leaving a transparent floor. Mio found herself looking down through the ground.

"Yui?"

Yui was reaching for her from the other side of the ocean. They stared at each other through the transparent ground helplessly, both of them drowning. "No, Yui!" Mio felt tears start to drip down the side of her face as she clawed helplessly at the ground. The look of suffering on Yui's face was driving her crazy. Everything in Mio's being wanted to save at least Yui from this fate.

"Yui!" Mio sat up in her bed breathing hard from her nightmare. Her pupils slowly focused to the dim light and she realized that she had been restricting her breathing by sleeping face down in her pillow. "Moh," she sighed as she grabbed the pillow and chucked it at the wall. Her adrenaline was still pumping and her heart was still beating fast but now the only thing she could really remember was Yui reaching for her and suffocating. Mio brought up her knees and buried her face in her arms. She sighed heavily and glanced up at the clock. Great, two hours too early to get up for school.

Mio slowly leaned back onto her bed, straightening out her night gown and folding her hands on her stomach. She didn't really understand why but she had been dreaming about Yui for a long time now. Ever since…

Mio raised a hand to her lips and turned red, feeling her body flush.

It was the first kiss she had ever received and for some reason she couldn't forget about it. At first she tried very hard to, but every time she saw a movie where a couple would kiss or even happy couples walking around the city she would think about Yui. It had developed unconsciously into an infatuation that she could barely control. Ever since then, Mio couldn't imagine herself with anyone else.

The tall bassist sighed, her fingers still lightly grazing her own lips as she remembered how warm and moist Yui's lips were against hers. She remembered the pounding of her heart and the adrenaline flowing through her body as she received her first kiss, the warmth of her body pressed against hers and all of that out of nowhere.

Jeez, Yui. How could you do this to me…Mio raised her arm to rest over her eyes and sighed.

Yui is really just cute though… Mio thought, thinking about her fellow band member's physical appearance. Yui had physically become less childish looking over the past year. Her facial features showed it the most; she had really become more mature looking. If it wasn't her facial features, it was definitely a change in her facial expressions. These days, her smile would be more secretive and mature although she still had her moments. When Yui played the guitar Mio felt the strings of her heart move. When I play bass to Yui's songs, they make the sweetest sounds... she thought. The more time Mio spent with Yui, the more she felt herself losing her inner battle to fight her feelings for her.

If only she didn't kiss me then…thought Mio. Then I wouldn't have to be struggling with this burden.

Mio stared at the ceiling as a familiar crushing feeling pressed down into her chest. A girl being in love with a girl was something that wasn't supposed to happen in this world. Nobody would understand or accept it. Mio clenched her eyes as she tried to imagine what her parents or Ritsu would think. Yui would probably think she was a freak too and she would lose her friendship with all of the other band members...except Mugi I guess.

Mio rolled around in her bed again; turning her face to the side and looking past the locks of long silky hair that fell over her face at the rest of her room. She brushed her hair back and started rubbing her head violently. "Ah jeez, I can't stand it."

She would never be able to admit her feelings for Yui. It was the most embarrassing secret of her life. Mio remembered with a sinking sensation that when she had tried to kiss Yui back, she had pushed her away. The memory tore at her heart. It was probably the biggest help to her fighting her feelings for Yui since last summer and now it was the biggest obstacle in telling her how she felt. Mio didn't even remember exactly why she tried to kiss her back. It was just so sudden and her heart was thumping and it was such a pleasant and warm sensation. Ah, I was so caught up in the moment that I lost my head!

Mio clenched her fists as she felt anger and embarrassment towards herself. "Jeez, and It could have easily been no big deal too," she said to herself aloud. "I'm so stupid."

It was sad but Mio had framed Yui's note and kept it secretly in her night stand drawer. She leaned over and pulled it out, her thumb tracing over the words and the cartoonish music notes scattered around the paper. I do want to tell you but…

Mio felt tears form at her eyes as frustration welled up inside her. She was scared of guys but she wished that she could have fallen in love with a guy instead. Then, no matter what, even if she did act on her feelings nobody would think she was a freak or hate her. She had always imagined herself getting married to a nice innocent young guy who would do sweet things for her but ever since she developed feelings for Yui, she had pushed those kinds of desires away. They even creeped her out. Mio thought about her conservative parents and sighed. Yea, there's no way they'd understand.

Many times, Mio had come close to telling Ritsu but it was such an embarrassing topic. Mio could tell Ritsu almost anything else but it was just too big and strange of a secret. In the end I'm scared about losing you too…even though I know you'd probably stay…

She sighed again and rolled off her bed, landing cat like on her hands and feet. She stood up quickly and brushed her bed head hair out of her face, raising her arms to stretch. Oh yeah, it's Sunday so we don't have school.

Mio felt a little brighter at the thought and walked over to her desk. She picked up her headphones and slung them around her neck, propping her elbow on the desk and leaning her cheek against her right palm as she skipped through the tracks on her mp3 player. There were several songs that she had grown addicted to recently and she started to tap her foot slowly as Ui-Mia kicked in. Several hours went by as Mio listened to various songs, writing in her lyrics notebook.

Mio slung the headphones on her ears and glanced at her private notebook. Sometimes when she was feeling frustrated she would write her feelings in there, or write play letters she would dream about sending. Just as she was about to open it…

BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

Mio jumped in surprise as her alarm clock went off. It had gone off way too early and she ran over to shut it off. "Eh, why did I set it this early?" Mio looked up as her mind started to slowly crawl out of early morning mode. "Oh no, It's Ritsu's birthday today!" Mio slapped her forehead and quickly got dressed for the day. Ugh…the hair would have to wait, she thought as she slung on a baseball cap and ran out the door, grabbing her cellphone. If she hurried, she could stop by a couple stores and find something ideal for Ritsu. She glanced over at her cell phone to see she had missed a call from Yui.

Ehhhh? At 1:30 in the morning?

She frowned to herself as she ran through her hall to leave her house. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal and Mio felt a light sense of happiness.


Also this chapter was fun to write, I feel like it's slowly repairing all the holes in the story that had always bothered me since the last couple chapters.

Thanks for all the awesome and informative reviews.