ACT 16

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The Russian woke up before the sun completely rose over the horizon. It seemed all the twisting turns in her head were gone. She had always waited grimly for day to begin in order to end the nightmares that would plague her during the night.

But the previous night had not been a nightmare for her. In fact, she felt electrifying energy flowing back to her body. She felt rejuvenated although much of the pain still remained in her heart.

The blond smiled weakly at the small figure lying beside her. Sakura's breathing was like music to her ears. It was so rhythmic and calm.

'I wonder what she's dreaming of,' Maria asked herself.

The green-eyed lady continued to stare at her in silence and studied her features.

'We have so many differences, Sakura. There is so much in you that I can't understand and there is also so much in me that you don't.'

The Russian closed her eyes. 'I am not like you.

'And yet. . . I. . .'

Upon reopening her eyes a tear fell. The more she tried to numb her emotions, the greater the pain it caused. The Russian bit her lip.

'I . . . needed you.'

A shaft of sunlight entered the room. Her eyes turned to look back at the raven-haired girl.

Sakura's face was so angelic. Maria was reminded so much of the Cinderella play. That sweet face. How could she forget the last scene of the play where they ended hugging each other?

". . . and here is your prince, lying on the bed," Maria whispered to herself with a chuckle.

'Sakura.'

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The sound of chirping birds woke up Sakura. The Japanese girl opened up her eyes slowly and covered her mouth from a yawn. After that, the first word that came out of her was the Russian's name.

But she heard no response.

Right beside her, Maria was fast asleep. Sakura scanned the window and finally realized that it was already afternoon. 'I overslept,' the young girl said to herself.

Before she could move herself from her position, she felt a hand on top of her own. Sakura knew it was Maria's. The girl in pink kimono carefully slid her hand off as she silently looked at the sleeping blond next to her. 'She might have woken up when I was sleeping,' she speculated.

Sakura tried to figure out what Maria was thinking when the raven-haired girl was asleep. She wanted to know.

The knob turned and the raven-haired girl motioned her head towards the door.

A figure entered.

"Ayame-san?" Sakura said in a startled manner.

Ayame paused. She was surprised herself, but she quickly hid it from her face. The assistant manager couldn't help but to give her a weak warm smile. "I guess I was right to check the room here."

The raven-haired girl bowed her head for an apology. "I'm so sorry, Ayame-san. I was just visiting Maria. . ."

"Since last night?" Ayame asked with a smile.

"Yes," she replied as she straightened.

"So you slept with her?"

"Yes."

Ayame gave her a slow nod. "I see."

Sakura blushed. "Huh? Ayame-san, no. . . it's not what you think. . . "

Ayame closed the door. An unreadable expression crossed her face. "What do you mean, what I think?"

"That I. . ."

The brown-haired lady gave her warm smile. "Sakura, you don't have to explain anything."

"Ayame-san . . . You know?" Sakura asked.

The assistant manager nodded at her question. She walked near her and looked at the sleeping blond. "She let you stay?"

"Yes," Sakura replied.

Ayame laughed silently to herself. 'That Maria. . . I thought she was the one who told me not to tell anyone.'

Sakura noticed Ayame grinning. "Ayame-san?"

The brown-haired lady gave her a cheery smile. "She told me before that she didn't want visitors. But seeing you here, probably she changed her mind."

"Ah-no, it was Ohgami-san who . . ." Sakura's eyes went the other way.

"Ohgami?" Ayame repeated.

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Dining Hall.

"Now, where is that Sakura-san?" Sumire's voice echoed throughout the hall. Again, she was furious. 'I thought I was done with her!' she told herself angrily.

"Calm down, will you?" Kanna said holding her chopsticks. "She probably got tired from your performance last night and besides, she needs more rest than any of us."

"Don't tell me," Kohran said stifling a yawn.

Ohgami looked drowsy himself. Traces of sadness crossed his face but he smiled weakly in spite of that. Iris looked at him, studying his demeanor.

"Kanna's right. She probably need some rest, " Ohgami said. The rest of them had noticed his melancholy expression since morning. They now sat silent as those had been the first words he'd spoken that day.

Sumire looked meaningfully at Kanna. The redhead shook her head slowly.

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Several hours later. ICU Room.

Maria opened up her eyes and the first thing she saw was Ayame. She was expecting Sakura though. "Ayame-san?" the blond said weakly.

"Oh, I'm glad you're awake," the brown-haired lady remarked.

"Where is-"

"If you are looking for Sakura, she left hours before you woke up." Ayame looked sideways and, sounding serious, spoke again. "I thought you don't want any visitors."

"I. . ." Maria blushed.

Ayame shot her a big, warm smile. "So, what happened last night?"

Maria looked at her seriously. "You're starting to sound like Sumire."

The assistant manager regarded that as a joke. "Don't throw stones. You don't seem to sound like your usual self anymore, too," she said while she placed her hands on her hips.

The Russian tried to stop herself from chuckling but she couldn't. Ayame was a bit surprised.

Maria finally contained herself. "I guess you already know what happened," she said with a hint of sarcasm.

Ayame folded her arms. "Not entirely. I felt some unresolved feelings from Sakura while I was talking to her."

"I see." The green-eyed woman stared out the window.

"I believe it may have been because of something you said to her last night."

The Russian felt like standing up and asking her, 'How the hell did you know?' But of course, she didn't.

"I told her that I like her because she's a formidable member and a strong warrior," Maria just stated.

"And is that all what you really have in mind?" Ayame asked.

It took a long while before Maria answered, "No."

"So what are you intending to do?"

"Can you even see me, of all people, telling her something like that? It's unimaginable," Maria said while her eyes narrowed.

"Maria, just tell her how you feel. Is that hard?"

"It is." Maria said flatly.

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Stage.

Kanna entered the door, holding the new scripts. "Hey, everyone get your copy."

Sumire first approached the redhead, followed by Iris and Kohran.

"Are they really serious about bringing up a new play? I just memorized all my lines for the Midsummer Night," Sumire complained while grabbing the new script.

"Hey, how could that play proceed if we lack the necessary actors?" Kanna muttered.

"Ah, such a shame really," Sumire just said.

"Pyramus and Thisbe?" Kohran said while reading the cover page. "Is this a tale of lovers again?"

"I think so. Haven't heard of it," Kanna remarked.

Sumire flipped the page and started to read the lines. "Hmmm . . . interesting."

Kanna flipped the page too and started to read the cast. The redhead raised her eyebrows. "Huh? I'm supposed to play the LION?"

"Hah! Nice for you. . . I'm the WALL," Kohran said.

"Iris plays the MOONLIGHT," Iris said cheerfully.

"And you like it?" Kanna said.

The French girl nodded.

Kanna sighed.

"And Sumire-han is . . ." Kohran turned to the brown-haired lady.

Sumire looked at her. "What do you expect? I get to play the main character which is-" The brown-haired lady paused for a while as her eyes widened at the script. "PYRAMUS?" She was shocked. "I am going to play a MALE character?"

"And THISBE, the lead female role, is going to be played by Sakura," Kanna ended, raising a finger.

"Ridiculous!" Sumire closed her script angrily. "I should be THISBE!"

"Actresses must not be choosers," Kanna snickered.

"That's for beggars, you oaf."

"Whatever."

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Author's note: Before anything else, Sakura and Maria slept as a vital activity of their body. . . not the other way you might be thinking of. Pyramus and Thisbe is a Greek play similar to Romeo and Juliet. If you ever read Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream in full, you might notice that it is also part of the play (see Nick Bottom and gang). But for the sake of this fanfic I separated it in two plays.