"What happened?" asked roan, looking around the room.
"She just…vanished. One minute she was there and the next she was gone…" said Tio, wide eyed, still staring at the place Millenia had just been laying.
Ryudo blinked sleepily and gazed around the room.
"Ryudo, why don't you go back to bed? You've been awake most of the night." Said Elena, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I want to make sure Millenia's alright," he yawned.
"We can do that. I'm sure she wouldn't leave the room," said Elena, "She's probably standing right here."
Ryudo groaned and nodded before walking back through the door. Elena sighed deeply and looked up at the ceiling.
"Millenia, if you're here. It's going to be okay; we won't let you disappear completely." She whispered.
Millenia was still in the room and she could hear everything they were saying, but something was stopping her from feeling more relaxed. She wished that she could just become solid again, but wishing wasn't doing anything. She tried reaching out to Elena, but her hands went straight through her shoulder.
"There's nothing we can do right now," said Roan, "Perhaps we should just go to sleep and hopefully Millenia will be back by the morning."
"But what if she's trying and we just leave her and…I don't want to just fall asleep and leave her on her own," said Tio.
"There's nothing we can do and besides, Millenia knows that we're all right here if she needs us," said Elena, "All we can do is hope that she can pull herself back together…"
They were all quiet for a moment. Millenia stood beside Tio, trying to think of a way to claw back into reality. Roan and Tio both left for bed, but Elena stayed in Millenia's room, looking around. The sheets were crumpled where Millenia had been lying on them. She sat down on the bed and stared at her feet.
"Give me your strength Millenia, because I don't think there is much of mine left," she whispered.
Millenia tried to hug her, but this was pointless considering that she just slid straight through her. Giving up; Millenia walked out into the main living space where she had earlier listened to them all talking about helping her. What were they doing to help her now?
Millenia walked over to Ryudo and Elena's room. She glanced around the door to see Ryudo sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the backs of his hands.
"Millenia…please…if this is in any way my fault…let it happen to me instead…please don't leave us…I still love you, you know…I never stopped, but Elena just…well what's the point in explaining it to you now? You know what happened…" Ryudo shook his head and ran his hands through his spiky brown hair.
He lay down on the covers and closed his eyes. He really needed sleep. Millenia walked over and sat on the other side of the bed. She gazed back at Ryudo and smiled gently. For the first time in days, she felt truly happy. She lay down beside him on the bed and put her arm across him as he breath deeply in his sleep.
"I know Ryudo, and I love you too," she whispered, before falling asleep.
When Elena woke up, she was still in Millenia's room, curled up on her bed. She looked around, but Millenia wasn't there. It occurred to her that Millenia might have left her sleeping there. She got up and walked out in the living area and sighed. No one else was up, even thought the sun was already up and shining. She guessed it was about nine, but then again they had all been up late.
She walked over to her own room and silently pushed the door open. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. When she turned around she saw a sight that filled her with a well of emotions.
On her bed was Ryudo still sleeping peacefully, with Millenia beside him, sleeping with her arm across him. Elena let out a soft breath. (A mixture of a laugh and gasp of disbelief.)
Gently, Elena slowly slid the door open again, before slamming it shut loudly. Ryudo and Millenia both sat up straight. Ryudo looked around sleepily. He saw Elena and then he saw Millenia…and promptly fell of the bed with surprise.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," said Elena, glaring at Millenia before running out of the room.
"Elena, wait!" called Ryudo, staggering to his feet.
"Elena…" began Millenia, but Ryudo stopped her.
"I think you've done enough for one day!" he said, leaving the room.
Millenia stood on the spot, mouth open. All she had wanted was to feel peaceful and return back to herself…but it looked like all she had done was made things worse.
Elena stormed up onto the deck and paced back and forth, she had never felt quite so angry before. Last night she would've done anything to have Millenia back, but now all she wanted was for her to disappear again…no, that's not what she meant, she just wanted everything to go back to the way it was…
"Elena," gasped Ryudo, climbing up on deck.
Elena quickly walked over to the other side of the ship.
"Elena, please. I didn't even know she was there. I fell asleep before she even got there!" he explained.
"Don't lie to me!" shouted Elena, "I know you still love her! You always have!"
"But I love you more!" Ryudo shouted back.
Elena's face softened for a moment.
"What's all the yelling about?" asked Millenia, covering her eyes from the sunlight, "My head's killing me!"
Elena's face became harsh again and she pushed past them down in the cabin areas.
"Millenia!" said Ryudo, "I told you, leave us alone for a change. We never were and never will be together, so just stop trying already!"
"That's not…" began Millenia, but Ryudo was already pushing past her.
Millenia rolled her eyes and leant against the side of the ship behind her.
"I happen to know that!" she shouted after him, but he probably couldn't hear her.
Millenia turned around and gazed out to sea. The blue water was waving slightly and the sun glinted of the surface like crystal. She smiled gently. It looked like the history books were right; being a part of Valmar, chaos was her greatest gift.
"Millenia?" asked a soft voice from the steps.
"Tio?" asked Millenia, turning around.
"I'm glad to see you're back," said Tio.
"I think you're the only one," Millenia laughed gently, "I'm good at screwing things up."
"No, you merely wanted comfort and you went to the one person who had ever loved you the way you loved them," explained Tio, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.
Tio walked over and stared out to sea next to Millenia.
"It is beautiful," said Tio, "but even the most beautiful things can be dangerous."
Millenia raised an eyebrow.
"You are pretty, but you have a darker side," said Tio, "And sometimes you use it unintentionally."
"I guess, but you're pretty yourself, and you never seem to show a darker side," said Millenia.
"I am not sure what my darker side is yet, but I'm sure it will show itself at some point," said Tio.
"You're lucky, you've got people like Roan to keep you safe, I've never had that," said Millenia sighing, "But maybe one day…one day…"
Millenia gazed at a bird swooping low over the waves.
"I like Roan, he understands me and he tries to teach me what my emotions mean," said Tio, smiling gently.
Millenia put her hands on Tio's shoulders.
"Don't let anyone get in-between you two," said Millenia, "Because when it comes down to it, your friends are all you have…"
(A/N) thank you for being patient with my uneven uploading. Please R&R.