~Pucca's P.O.V.~

"Pucca, run!"
I stood frozen in shock. My body wouldn't budge.

What was her motive behind this?

I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself to get mauled to pieces by a bloodthirsty vampire, when suddenly, I heard two gasps, and my eyes immediately shot open.

One came from Abyo, still trembling in fear behind Nessie, and the other came from Nessie herself, as she stood wide-eyed before me, frozen in her attacking position.

She looked straight at me, then at Abyo, who was now in shock as well, then back at me. Before I knew what was happening, she was suddenly on the ground, face buried in her hands, crying her eyes out.

Abyo and I exchanged puzzled glances, not sure of what we were supposed to do about the situation.

"…Nessie…?" Abyo murmured.

Nessie said nothing.

"Well, I guess I'll, um, see you around then…" and with that, Abyo fled from the scene, leaving me alone with her, trapped in an awkward silence.

The silence remained for a lengthy period of time, until I could have sworn I heard her mumble "Please… please forgive me…"
Startled, my head shot down at her tightly enclosed figure. "What did you say?"
"I'm sorry. You and your friend didn't deserve to go through that. I just… I can't believe I almost lost control of myself again!" Nessie cried, continuing to sob.

"I… I don't know what to say…"

"Come with me."

~End of Pucca's P.O.V.~

Nessie led her deeper into the forest, and the two began walking and having heart-to-heart conversations about their personal problems.

"So… that's why he did what he did. You left him."
Pucca solemnly nodded.
"But why?"

"It's kind of a long story… you see, there's this other guy. His name is Garu," a smile formed on Pucca's lips as she vocalized his name. "He…" Nessie could tell Pucca was trying hard to fight back tears. "…he tried to kill me."

Nessie was speechless. "Pucca, I'm so—"
"But then, Tobe came along and… put himself between me and Garu just as he was about to get the job done. And from that moment on, I began to see a whole other side of Tobe that I've never noticed before. I never knew he cared about me so much for so long."
Nessie remained silent.

"But after awhile, I started to realize that despite what happens, I was still going to be in love with Garu no matter what. It was inevitable. Even if he had psychological problems, I would have to look past them and see him for who I really loved him for."
"Wow, that's deep."

"But in order for me to be able to go back to Garu, I was going to have to break up with Tobe. It was heart wrenching, but I knew what had to be done. I just never knew he was going to react so strongly…"

Nessie felt dark clouds begin to form in her head.

~Nessie's P.O.V.~

I don't believe it…

He saved her life.

He nearly killed himself for her.

And she's so naturally beautiful, and intelligent, and gifted…

She has absolutely everything I don't have.

Including his adoration.

Why should I even bother with him if he still loves her?

Am I wasting my time?

Would he go out of his way to save me?

A horrid, bloodsucking leech like me?

No.

I'm not perfect like her.

Then again, she's not perfect either.

Nobody is.

But she is a hell of a lot closer than I am right now.

Why do things like this always happen to me?

Why can't I at least get myself to pretend that I love who I am?

Why must it be so painfully impossible to love myself?
And get others to love me?

Why must I be so jealous, to the point where I end up killing someone?

It's not fair.

Why me…?

~End of Nessie's P.O.V.~

"Pucca…" Nessie murmured, tears forming in her eyes.

"Nessie, are you alright?"
"I-I'm fine, it's just… I have a lot of things going on right now internally."

Pucca looked into Nessie's blood-red eyes, beginning to absorb some of her pain. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Nessie clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hide her tears as best as she could, but the droplets continued to run visibly down her face. "Why…"
"Why… what?"
"Why… why do you have to be so perfect?"

"What are you talking about?"
"I don't get it! What does he see in you that he doesn't see in me? Am I really that unbearable? I just… I…" Nessie stopped abruptly, choking on sobs. "…I envy you, Pucca."

"Nessie, do you mean…?"
Nessie looked down, tears streaming down her face, and gave a small nod.

"Oh my god… Nessie, I had no idea…"

"Well, now you understand…" she scoffed through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's really not you're fault. I mean, I guess you can't help being so perfect. It just comes naturally to you. Unfortunately, we aren't all born that lucky…" Nessie began picking apart a flower that she had plucked violently from the ground.

"Please, don't do this. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You're a lot better than you think you are."
"After what I almost just did to you? And you don't even know me yet! Maybe you should spend a little more time with me before you jump to conclusions."
"I know, I'm sorry…"

Nessie stiffened up and let the mangled flower float freely to the ground, letting out a few more silent sobs. "It's no use. No matter what I do, he'll always love you."
"That's not true. You saved his life. I'm sure he really appreciates what you did for him."
"Yeah. And what do I get? A 'thank you. I appreciate it greatly'. Nothing greater. I feel as though destiny was being shoved in my face when I first saw him on that day. I felt like a new light was being shined on my being, creating newborn scars. And yet, it didn't hurt me one bit. For one of the very few times in my life, I actually felt… alive, in the literal sense. Even though that's physically impossible for someone like me, when I looked at him, I could feel the warm blood pulsing throughout my entire body, as if it was suddenly abundant again. At that moment, I could tell that he was going to be the one…" Nessie's smile fell. "Although now, seeing you, I'm slowly beginning to wonder if destiny placed me in that time and place just so he could stay alive to continue loving you again… like I was just some sort of piece connecting the center of the puzzle, that things weren't meant to end up that way. I just… I don't know."

Pucca felt extreme guilt upon hearing Nessie's words. She had no idea that she cared for Tobe so deeply. At that moment, she suddenly wished to be anything but perfect. It felt disgusting. She wanted desperately to be able to do anything to cheer Nessie up, and hopefully restore some of her lost confidence, but words failed her. All she could do was rest a hand on her shoulder and whisper, "…I'm sorry."

Nessie looked up at Pucca and smiled. "…Thank you. Thank you for listening to me. Not very many people do…" she paused. "You know, you're not like everyone else. You're different."

"…That's good, right?"
Nessie giggled. "Of course it is. You actually care; you understand me. You know, I think we're going to get along great… even if Tobe is in love with you."
The two girls locked into a tight, friendly embrace.

"I think so too…" Pucca grinned. "You know, maybe you should just try and get to know him, and maybe one day, he'll see you the way he sees me. Or… something close to that."
"Hah, I doubt it. But it is worth a try, I suppose. Thank you, Pucca." Nessie dashed off into the remainder of the night, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
They had been talking until almost 5 AM.

But it was well worth it.

They had gotten to know each other much better, and they had sorted out their dilemmas with each other, so now, all ends well.

Oh, wait…

…There was still Garu.