Author's Note: Finally I can upload something! God, it was hard... Anyway, hope you'll like this chapter. This is one of the chapters that I've always imagined ever since the beginning of this story. Hopefully you'll like it as much as I do :)

Disclaimer: Other than the story plots, Rein and some other minor characters, everything is not mine.

Chapter 14: Another Crazy Encounter?

The only thing I saw when I realized my surrounding was destruction. Debris of what used to be glorious buildings were scattered around the place. Streets that used to be paved beautifully were now covered with ashes and broken by the crumbled stones and bricks. Street lights that used to be shining brightly were now burnt black and toppled to the ground. Windows were shattered, smokes were snaking up to the sky, and ashes were covering the surrounding air. There was only silence in that place.

I was stunned. What is this place? What happened here? My mind swirled, trying to comprehend the situation but no explanation would come up. I looked around, searching for any sign of life but no such luck. It was dead silence. There was no wind blowing, no whispers of the trees, no noises of even the smallest animals, no nothing. There was no single living thing in that place. The town was dead. All that left was the sad remnants of what used to be a glorious town.

I shivered. What could have happened here? My heart clenched in pain. I didn't know why but I felt so sad. I didn't even know what that place was but just by seeing the ruins of it, I felt pain and sorrow shot through my body. And I felt scared too. Tears were forming in the corner of my eyes. This shouldn't have happened! My heart screamed.

"Yes, it shouldn't have," said a voice from my back. "And yet it did. And it was my entire fault…"

I was shocked and turned around. But instead of finding someone behind me, I saw a house. A small modest house made out of wood right on the outskirt of the town. The one and only building left standing.

I watched the house in wary. I didn't see the house before. I didn't even know when I had reached the outskirts of the town. But the voice had come from there and I needed to find out what was happening, so I braved myself up and approached the house slowly. As I reached its front door, I turned the knob carefully. It swung open without a sound. I stepped in.

What greeted me inside was even more surprising than the destroyed town. I saw Rein there, sitting on the floor, next to a somewhat of a makeshift bed, holding the hand of a girl lying on that bed. The girl was someone I'd never seen before and yet she seemed familiar to me. She had a beautiful curly brunette hair with a short-thin face and also a short thin figure. It was unbelievable how thin her whole body was, I was afraid that she might break and shatter in any second. She looked so tired and fragile, and I could see that her hand was trembling inside the hold of Rein's big hands. Even so, despite of all the exhaustion that seemed to be screaming out of every inch of her body, her eyes—a soft shade of brown—were still bearing the shine of that of serenity.

I could only stand there, shocked.

It seemed like neither of them were aware of my arrival as they just continued talking as if I had never been there. I watched in confusion as they were arguing—or at least that was what it looked like to me—because I had just realized that I couldn't hear any of the things that they were talking about. I could see their mouths moving but I couldn't hear any sound coming out of them even though I was standing right in front of them. I frowned at this. Why can't I hear them?

I tried to focus my hearing towards them—maybe they were whispering very quietly so I couldn't hear it—but nothing changed. They were still talking but no voice reached me. So I stopped trying to hear and instead focusing on their faces and lips movement in hope that maybe I could catch some clue about what they were talking about.

I watched as Rein shook his head, disagreeing with the laying girl, saying "no" repeatedly and quite visibly trying very hard not to break down then and there. The girl, however, didn't budge either. She smiled with the thin and chapped lips of her, breathing out her every word with as much calmness and confidence as of a queen in her throne. With her trembling hand, she squeezed Rein's hand lightly as if she was trying to calm him down. Rein's body quivered a little.

I didn't know what to make out of the scene playing out in front of me. Where is this place? What happened to this place? Who is that girl? What is her relationship with Rein? What happened to her and what is it that they are arguing that make Rein seems so devastated? These questions swirled in my head as I watched Rein raised the girl's hand and softly gave it a kiss. He let his lips lingered there longer while he closed his eyes with somber as if he was refusing to accept what the girl had told him.

I had never seen him like that before, so vulnerable and powerless. Even though he had never been arrogant like Naru, but he had always seemed to possess the same charisma and confidence of a noble. He could sulk, or be sour, or filled with anger, or even be very ridiculous at times, but never once did he seem to be vulnerable. Never once did he seem to be at lost or hopeless. Even when he had just traveled across the country by himself after the death of his parents and joined the orphanage for the first time, even when the orphanage had gone to bankrupt and we had to scratch for money to survive every passing days, even when the debts we had were getting bigger and bigger while it was becoming more and more difficult to support the daily needs of the orphanage, he had never showed any sign of despair or surrender. He would always have this defiant and hopeful look in his eyes, telling everyone that it was going to be alright, and strove for whatever plans that he had in his mind. But here, in front of that girl, holding the girl's hand as if it was his lifeline, he just looked so… broken.

The girl smiled faintly at Rein. Sadness now clearly painted in her eyes but she still didn't seem to be changing her mind about the matter. She opened her mouth to say something, and surprisingly, this time I could hear her voice.

"It's not the end for you yet, Rein," she said with a clear ringing voice, as if she was talking from far away and it was coming from every direction. I also didn't fail to notice that it was the same voice I had heard earlier. "You still have to protect her. She needs you."

Rein looked confused at this but the girl didn't pay him any attention. Instead, slowly but steadily, the girl shifted her eyes to where I was standing. I didn't think that she would be able to see me but she looked directly to my eyes and said, "Save her."

Rein looked behind his shoulder, and our eyes met. My body froze. He was dumbstruck.

"Mai?" he whispered.

And everything became hazy.

It's so shoooooort, I know, I'm sorry. But I really like it this way. Well, please let me know what you think of it! R&R!