"Silvia!" a voice shouts.

As my vision returns, I recognize I am slumped over.

Satoshi is on the floor in front of me on one knee, both hands clamped firmly on my shoulders. His eyes express intense worry as they stare into mine. "… Silvia…?" he inquires cautiously.

I blink feverishly. "… It's me…" I raise a hand and place it on my forehead gently. I moan softly at the sudden pain.

The teen beside me frowns. "Lie down," he commands as he lightly pushes my shoulders into the couch.

I obey without objection and readjust myself on the couch. The movement makes me feel slightly dizzy, but I can feel the symptoms already beginning to fade.

Satoshi sits beside me, all the while never taking his eyes from mine. "… Who was it?" he asks levelly.

"Not who…" I utter quietly and avert my eyes in shame, "… what."

"'What'?" he enquiries gently.

I cringe as he delicately places his hand on my cheekbone. Disregarding my condition, I jolt upright and swat his hand away. "I'm not like her!" I snarl furiously. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I continue glumly, "… Dinoval and I have a… condition… that limits our Cross Fusion…" I shake my head. "… When we alter a timeline… our memories often become corrupted…" I shake my head again and look up forlornly at Satoshi.

He remains silent and his features are unreadable.

My gaze drops and I sigh heavily, "… I'm sorry… this doesn't involve you…"

"… No…" Satoshi states emotionlessly.

I look back up at him.

A muddled expression is on his face; like the unearthing of some foreign emotion. He is looking at me, but his eyes are unfocused and distant. Satoshi blinks. "… It must be horrible…" he muses softly with his eyes focused on me.

"… It's… not that bad…" I try to convince myself as much as him. I swivel my legs off the couch again. Hateful memories float around my head. Some part of Dinoval inside me provokes me into leaning on Satoshi.

He stiffens slightly. Relaxing, Satoshi shuffles closer and drapes his arm around my neck.

I don't fight his touch, being far too depressed to care. "… You don't know how it is… to go to so many places… and never know which ones are truly real… to meet so many people… and to never know who is your friend…" I whimper softly and begin to shiver, "… to know, that no matter how hard you try… it is impossible to save everyone…" I pause. "To know death will always follow you…"

Satoshi remains silent.

"You don't know how it is!" I scream wretchedly. I feel a blizzard of emotions emanating from the F-ainians and Solstice. "You don't know how it is…" I continue, neither my voice nor my feelings completely my own, "to travel from place to place… searching… for the one place that can be truly called 'home'…" I gaze up at Satoshi with mournful eyes. "… I can't even know if you are really here… or is this one of my broken memories…?"

"… I cannot answer your question for you," Satoshi states after a thoughtful pause, "but I can tell you that this is the only world I know." He pauses. "It may not be a perfect world…" He uses his unoccupied hand to brush his fingers along the frame of his glasses; a hint of suppressed evil memories reawakening in his eyes. "… yet… we continue to live and shape the world… and isn't that blessing enough…?"

I blink then look the teen in the eyes. How can he, of all people, say that? I drop my head and sigh. "… You're right…" I admit and look back at Satoshi, "but… where did that speech come from?"

Relief gleams in his eyes as I smile. Satoshi shrugs casually, "living my life, I've learned what people want to hear… and I knew what Dinoval would say as well." He laughs shortly, "I guess I should back away now…?"

I'm about to ask why when I realize that Satoshi still has his arm draped over me; not to mention how perturbingly close we are that I'm practically sitting in his lap. I narrow my eyes. "You better."

Satoshi releases me and sighs, "you are simply set on staying stubborn."

"And you're simply set on trying to win me over," I mumble with a huff.

The former tamer tilts his head slightly. "What did you say?" he inquires curiously.

"Nothing," I lie unoriginally.

"Am I trying to win you over?" Satoshi smiles mischievously, "perhaps."

Great Egyptian god cards! I sigh heavily and facepalm, "subtle."

Cynthia: I had to explain the whole memory corruption sometime, plus it was a good time to fangirl... :)

Solstice: *facepalm*