A/N: Disclaimer: Refer back to Chapter 1.

WARNING: OOC, SUGGESTIVE LANGUAGE

Chapter 2: The Man in My Present.

"So…" he said, stretching his arms a bit, "How about Mr. Silent and Brooding? How does he fit into your life?" he asked in a tone as if he were the paparazzi waiting for the next big scoop.

Argilla laughed, "Serph? He's…he's a special person to me."

Roland laughed ruefully; of course that was what she would say…She was his lover. Of course she loved him.

"But…"

What was this? A word of doubt maybe?

"He's…I dunno…He's perfect." she said with a sad sigh.

"Huh?" Roland asked, moving a bit closer to where she sat. He took a deep breath before doing so though; after all, she might think that he was invading her space…And he really didn't want to get on her bad side, especially that they were now sharing a meaningful conversation.

Conversation?

It was more like, him interrogating her about her personal love life. Like a lovesick schoolgirl. But still, this was the only way that he could get to know her…

After all, when Serph came back, he wouldn't get the chance to talk to her again.

"What do you mean he's perfect?" he asked in a low tone, a slow chuckle building up from within, "There's no such thing as the perfect person Argilla."

She smiled sadly, "Well…he is. He's strong, he's kind…he's handsome…His everything that any woman could want."

"I don't understand where the problem is Argilla." Roland said truthfully.

"The problem is that, maybe I don't deserve him. I mean, when we were at the Junkland, before we got together, when Sera first came, I was surprised to find that I was…a little jealous of her. She was different from the rest of the women in the Junkland. She was the only one to have strange yet striking black hair and piercing and yet soothing silver eyes…Before her, we didn't feel any emotions…We didn't know what love or hate was. She was the one who eased our suffering when we would go crazy from the hunger."

She then laughed humorlessly, throwing her head back, "Ah…She would sing for us, a song. That song soothed our spirits…Back then," she paused, furrowing her eyebrows together, "she had Serph's full attention; and Heat's as well. Before, I didn't mind it. I loved Sera too. But…somewhere along the way, I began to imagine what it would be like if I had that sort of attention from Serph…"

"What would it be like if he looked at me the way he looked at her?" she asked dreamily.

"Er…How did Serph look at Sera?" Roland asked, scratching his head.

"Like this." she said as she clasped her hands together in front of her bosom, as if she were praying, with her pink eyes, dilating like a faithful dog's and her eyelashes batting slowly, yet seductively.

Roland leaned back, "Whoa…that's some powerful eye-work there…" he said; chuckling softly. And he wasn't kidding. Her eyes were mesmerizing; they were sparkling, speaking to him. He gulped lightly; he really shouldn't look any deeper into her eyes…

'Nope. I shouldn't.' he thought, laughing nervously.

She laughed as well, "See what I mean? Anyway, it's just that I began to feel jealous of her. And then, after we conquered the Maribel Tribe, there was a girl who claimed that she would give herself to Serph; that she would let Serph 'devour' her anytime he'd want. I'll tell you that her definition of the word 'devour' doesn't include the splattering of blood, the ripping of flesh or the disembowelment of organs! Oh no…she had that sort of 'devour' in mind!"

She shuddered, "Well, at that moment I just felt so angry that I wanted to rip her apart!" she finished, anger lacing her voice, her hands shaking in fury as she clenched them in front of her face.

Roland sweat-dropped. She could be scary…

She sighed and slumped her shoulders forward, leaning a bit on the edge, "So, going back to Sera…I just…I just think that maybe Serph would be better off with a person like her. She was perfect too…"

Roland looked at her sympathetically. He would love nothing more than to proclaim his intentions but…That would be wrong. It would look like as if he was trying to steal her away from Serph.

And what was more was that she really loved that strange man.

His hand found hers and she looked at him, questioning what he was doing. He smiled at her sheepishly, "Look. I'm no love guru or whatever, but it just seems to me that you shouldn't feel that way at all."

"Huh?"

Roland laughed, "I don't know about this Sera person, but…Serph, he, he chose to be with you didn't he?"

Argilla raised an eyebrow and Roland continued, "He could have chosen to look for Sera the way Heat did. Or he could have chosen to put himself in reserve until you guys found Sera right?"

He sighed, "I'm not making any sense am I? What I mean is that, Serph chose you and not Sera. So, what's the problem? He chose you because you're the one he wants. Perfect or no, you're the one he wants to be with. End of story."

Up to that point, Roland wasn't exactly sure if he managed to get his meaning across.

But as her lips slowly tugged upwards, he knew that he had succeeded.

"Thanks for that."

Roland nodded, smiling a bit, "Not a problem Argilla."

"So, I guess…you and Serph really went through hell and back huh?"

She nodded, "I guess you could say that. When I woke up in your world, he was the first one my eyes saw…"

Roland wanted to laugh right there. His eyes were the first things that she saw in their world? 'I mean, come on! Is this Soap Opera Central or something?'

She sighed, "He was the one who found me. I don't mean to be really sappy, but, you know, when I looked into his eyes…it was as if I was falling…"

Then, suddenly, as if she had discovered that what she had told him was a complete farce, she slapped her palm on her mouth and laughed, "Oh my God. Did I just say that crap?"

Roland didn't know whether to join in her laugh or just sit there, totally still. He chose neither. "Yeah, well, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Everyone's got their weaknesses."

She sighed again; but this time, it was out of relief. She then did something that Roland didn't expect. She scooted closer to him, eliminating all spaces between them and rested her head on his shoulder.

Roland froze and he fought back the pleasurable jolt that his body was threatening to have. He couldn't let her know that he was feeling awkward and at the same time, thrilled at her sudden bold action.

"You know," she spoke once more, a cheerful feeling within her voice, "there was a time that I pretended to be Sera. We disguised me as Sera so that we could fool the other tribe."

She chuckled again, "Well, we succeeded…but there was Bat." Suddenly her countenance had taken a hundred and eighty degree turn as her face contorted to a face of regret, "I couldn't defend myself…"

She paused, deep in thought. Roland cleared his throat, "Then what happened?"

"Well, I was useless…Bat had me…I thought I was going to die."

"But you didn't. Serph saved you." Roland finished for her, knowing where the story was going. It was the typical "prince charming saves the damsel" theme.

But still, he was amazed. These people had gone through hell and back…And he was finding Argilla all the more interesting.

"Yeah. He did. After that…well, I felt guilty that I was useless. I couldn't even fend off one enemy. And I felt so grateful to Serph. He just kept on helping me…"

Suddenly, her calm and cheerful countenance changed. He noticed it as he felt her stiffen and pressed herself further against him.

"And now, I know he's mad at me…"

Roland nodded, "So that's why he was not in the mood today huh?" So that was why Serph chose to leave her behind at Lokapala. That was why he decided to take Gale and Cielo instead.

"Yeah…But I really don't know why…I haven't done anything!" she yelled in protest, raising her head to look him in the eyes.

Roland shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know what to tell you Argilla. But, just give him time. He'll come around. I mean, he can't stay mad at you forever right?" he asked, sweat-dropping at his pathetic and lame attempt to cheer her up.

Argilla gave him a bored look, but nonetheless nodded, "Thanks for the effort. I'll definitely give you an A for effort."

Then, she rested her head on his shoulder once more, sighing and closing her eyes wearily as a playful breeze passed them by, letting the loose locks of her pink hair dance and sway carelessly.

Roland sighed too.

Well, this was the moment that he had waited for, for a while now; alone time with her. He was going to cherish this forever.

"So," he said unevenly, "I guess that it's really Serph for you huh?"

She giggled, "Oh Roland, I would love nothing more than to say to you that it's just Serph that I'm going to be loving for the rest of my life…"

Suddenly, the flame of hope that he had thought that had been long extinguished suddenly lit up again, "What do you mean?"

She giggled, "There have been a lot of things that had happened in our lives that are too…dire…too unbelievable. What I'm saying is that, he's here now, with me, but who knows what will happen in the future? Or in the near future? What if he decided that he didn't want me anymore? What then?"

Roland nodded in understanding. A person's heart can change as quickly as it can change back. That was what feelings were…Time and circumstance change a person…

"All I'm telling you is that…it would be wonderful if Serph and I could be together for the rest of our days…But there can come things between us that might one day be too great for us to resist. There may come a rift in between us that is too wide for us to bridge."

She sighed.

"To tell you the truth, I'm scared. I'm scared of what may happen."

"Did you tell him any of this?" asked Roland, looking at her pink eyes seriously.

She stiffened again, "No. I didn't."

"You should." he replied curtly, "He deserves to know what you feel…and what you fear. Argilla, I know you're new to relationships, but I gotta tell you that communication between you two is imperative. Just talk to him about it."

"I suppose I should."

xxxxx

Serph walked along the quiet streets of Lokapala. He, Gale and Cielo had scouted the new city. They were surprised to say the least. They had never seen such a city.

But still, they were pleased.

They had gathered the desired data. It would seem that Sera and Heat were at the Administrative Building.

Well, tomorrow, they would have to leave for the aforesaid building; all five of them. Pain suddenly gripped his heart. Argilla…He had a little spat with her earlier and that resulted in him avoiding her and leaving her behind.

He really didn't want to, but after what he had heard the night before, nothing but insult plagued his body.

How could she sleep with him while she dreamt of another?

He cast his face down sadly; finding the dirty and dusty ground all the more interesting. And now, he could only wonder what she was doing. He suddenly thought of Roland.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. Yes; the platinum-haired man liked her as well. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave the two alone together…

He cursed himself. But still, he had no choice. He couldn't take Roland with him; he'd annoy the crap out of him. And he was as sure as hell that he couldn't bear to look at Argilla at that time either. He needed space.

So, that was why he left her behind. But still, he suddenly stopped.

'Maybe I'm overreacting?' he asked himself.

'You got that right.' a voice within him joined in.

'Am I?'

'Look buddy, why don't you just ask her about it rather than just brooding like this? We have a perfectly working voice box. It wouldn't hurt to use it once in a while.'

Maybe his inner self was right…

xxxxx

Argilla smiled and raised her head once more, looking at his eyes. He, in turn looked back at her, his eyes twinkling in both embarrassment and excitement. He was embarrassed that he actually got himself to give her meaningful advice when he himself was a screw-up.

But at the same time, he could feel his heartbeat's pace hasten as she gazed within his eyes.

"That's good to know. Wait a minute!" he suddenly blurted out.

"What?"

"What about Gale or Cielo?"

"What about them?" she asked, bored.

"Didn't you ever consider them as…you know…?"

Her pink eyes dilated at such an exaggerated form that she thought they were going to fall out of their sockets! Gale and Cielo? Prospective lovers?

She wanted to barf…

"No…! Never!" she said immediately.

"Why not? I mean, Gale isn't bad looking, although I could understand why you'd never go for Cielo though…Did you see that hair? And that accent?"

Argilla laughed as Roland continued to verbally assault her blue-haired comrade, "You're mean aren't you? For a moron, you sure have a big mouth!"

He winced at that and laughed sheepishly; she still called him that. He sighed; well, that was how she knew him anyway. As a moron. She was never impressed with him anyway.

"Just kidding, but seriously…never? Not even once?"

Argilla blushed, "Gale and Cielo are like brothers to me. It could never be anything more than that. Now, enough about them. You're starting to creep me out!"

"Okay, okay I understand. So I'm guessing that Heat is the man from your past while Serph is the man in your present. Am I right?" he asked seriously, leaving the thoughts of Gale and Cielo behind.

Argilla tilted her head to the side and thought for a moment before responding, "I guess so…when you really think about it."

She suddenly laughed heartily, "I guess you're right. But Heat…like you said-he's in the past. I don't want to dwell on that anymore. Now that I've understood that my dreams are my past life, I want to move on."

He nodded in concurrence.

She smiled and continued, "Yeah…I want to live my life with Serph…"

Roland felt a wrench in his gut as she said Serph's name. He knew that she would never like him and he had to content himself with having just fantasies of her, but still, experiencing it first-hand, her indirect rejection, was still painful for him.

But now…she suddenly stopped.

Roland blinked; she was looking at him funny.

Was there something on his face? What was it all of a sudden?

xxxxx