Maria opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around and before she could really define where she was, the blurry memories of what had happened rolled in. She saw that there was just a beautiful stream of light coming in through the window. She couldn't tell what time it was, and she was surprised that she had slept at all. She noticed that Charmy was still lying next to her.
"It's still early," she thought to herself getting out of the bed carefully and quietly. Charmy was asleep yet and she wanted to keep it that way as long as she could. She walked silently to the door and exited the room.
Standing in the hallway, facing the doorway, she closed the door with as little noise as possible. She closed the door successfully then she heard a voice come from behind her.
"Sneaking around again?" She spun around quickly as an image of her friend Natashia flashed before her eyes. The sudden image was soon replaced by a serious looking Espio.
"Damn." She looked down at the floor.
"You alright?"
"Fine." She looked up at him and spoke softly. "What time is it?"
"Just about six."
She just dropped her head again. "You always up this early?"
"Pretty much, what about you?"
"All my waking hours run together." She looked up at him and he looked back. She dropped her hand from her forehead and stood up straight. She was quite a bit shorter than Espio was. She felt small next to him, just like everyone else she was next to. There was silence as Espio just stared at Maria, not breaking his gaze. She just stared back at him. She didn't want to look like she felt threatened. Suddenly they heard a noise and they both turned to see Mighty walking out of his room. He let out a yawn, stretching his arms above his head, and walked over to Maria and Espio. Neither said anything as he approached.
"Hey," he said to the two of them in a casual tone of voice. He paused not receiving a reply from either of them. He then proceeded to ask Maria, "How're you feeling?"
Maria just stood there confused for a bit before she remembered what had really happened yesterday.
"Better," she looked at Mighty then at Espio who exchanged glances with her. Mighty watched, as he seemed to be the only one glad it was a new day.
"That's good." He smiled a little, only so Maria could notice.
"Are you sore at all?" Espio asked wondering himself how she really was feeling.
"No. I'm fine." Espio nodded his head a little disbelievingly. He then looked at Mighty. Maria wanted some time alone, but she had a strong feeling neither of them would let her go anywhere by herself. She decided to try for a long shot, "Do you guys think I could take a shower?"
Mighty and Espio exchanged 'I'm not sure' glances.
"Not going to jump out the window are you?" Espio spoke with an agitated tone and Mighty glared at him.
"No." Maria replied simply after a short pause. She looked at Mighty, not truly trusting Espio with the decision. She did not know him as well, and she felt he was a little harsher than Mighty was.
Mighty just shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes and replied, "Whatever, go ahead."
She looked at him for a second longer. She blinked at him as he pointed down the hall to where the bathroom was. She turned around and walked away from them. She was soon out of sight.
Mighty looked down at the floor and spoke to Espio, "You shouldn't have said that." He started to walk away, down the stairs, without wanting a reply from Espio. He followed and he replied.
"Really, I thought it was quite relevant."
"Even so, it was wrong."
"How so." They reached the bottom floor and Mighty just walked into the kitchen without looking back at the chameleon. He sat in a chair at the table and rubbed his eyes. Espio sat kitty-corner from him and watched as he attempted to wake himself up. "You should still be sleeping. You're never up this early."
"Yeah well, I'm never up that late either. I'll be fine." He stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Espio. "What were you guys talking about up there? She didn't seem to happy."
"I don't know if you could call it talking, I just told her what time it was and she said that all her waking hours run together. Helluva lot of sense that makes, but that's about it."
"It makes sense."
"How's that?"
"She's always awake. She doesn't sleep." Mighty looked Espio in the eyes. He sat there looking a bit confused.
"She got some kind of insomnia?"
"She doesn't know. Makes for the best explanation, but she has no idea."
"How do you know all this? You a mind reader now?"
"She talks to me. To be frank, it wouldn't surprise me if she was afraid of you." Mighty leaned back in his chair crossing his arms. He was trying to focus on anything other than the throbbing headache he had gained, but he thought mostly about Maria.
He heard a sudden voice, thinking it was someone speaking from the room, "She's not afraid." He looked around but there was no one there except Espio, and he had not said anything.
"What's wrong with you now?" Espio asked seeing the sudden change of perception in his facial expression.
Mighty just glanced at him and then looked down.
"Mighty."
"Ever since she's been here, I've been feeling," he paused and thought to himself for a bit "weird. I guess that's the best word for it."
"Well I wonder why." Espio said sarcastically.
Mighty knew he was making fun of him, saying that he liked her. He didn't like her, not that he could tell anyway. Maybe he did and he just didn't know it. He felt something though between them, he understood her and he enjoyed being with her, like he was supposed to be, it was meant to be. He couldn't possibly have any feelings for her...could he?
"Fine, forget it."
"No, finish what you were saying."
"Drop it alright. I really don't want to talk about this now."
Espio stared at him for a little longer than looked out the window.
"Beautiful day."
"Yeah."
"Going to be a good day today."
"How can you possibly be so sure about that?" Mighty asked looking at him.
"Just a feeling."
"Right." Mighty just sat forward a little and sat with his face in his hands. He closed his eyes and nearly fell asleep as Espio just sat in deep thought. He repeated Espio's words quietly to himself, "Just a feeling."
◊◊◊
Maria found the shower no problem, not really needing to know how to turn on the water she made it as cold as she possibly could. The cold always made her relax and forget about everything going wrong or right either way. It was like it washed away all her problems, and that's all she needed.
◊◊◊
Maria stepped out of the shower and found a towel that was hanging nearby. Grabbing it, she wrapped it around herself under her arms then tucked one end into the top to keep it held up. She made her way over to the oval mirror on the opposite side of the small room. Looking sadly at her reflection, she saw cuts and scrapes on her face. They had been cleaned out by the chilly water, but still showed horribly. She ran a gentle finger alone one that curved with the outside of her right eye. It lay in a crescent moon shape.
Dropping her head and closing her eyes to block away any tears she spoke to herself, "I need you mom." She stood still in front of the mirror for a couple minutes before walking back to where her clothes were lying on the floor and slowly put them back on.
She was still really hurting, but she didn't let Espio know that. There was nothing he or anyone else could do to help. She had taken the bandages that were on her injuries off and had not really thought about it a second time. She hated being wrapped up like that, or having to be cared for by someone else, or even going anywhere near a hospital. She had always hated it, even though she had never been to a hospital, never really needing to, there was something about having to watch her friend die there all those years ago. She just wouldn't take it.
Once she had dried off and finished putting her clothes on she quietly walked down the hallway towards the stairs and where she had been staying currently. She was really debating on whether or not to stay upstairs or go down. She was not sure on either of them and considered running off again.
Suddenly, the door to her room was opened and she watched as Charmy slowly and lazily flew out of it. He stopped and stared at Maria for a bit, a little sleepy-eyed. A few seconds passed before his eyes shot wide open and he rushed downstairs shouting, "She's awake, she's alive! She's up! She's awake!"
"Whoa," Vector cried out falling off the couch due to the startling sound of Charmy's high-pitched voice. "Goddamn." He rubbed the back of his head and neck and stood up half-mindedly.
Mighty and Espio looked at each other, hearing the excitement, and then watched intently as Charmy flew in, almost colliding with the wall.
"You guys, you guys! Guess what! She's aw--"
"We know," Espio and Mighty spoke in unison cutting Charmy off.
He hovered, confused for a moment then responded with a simple, "Oh," while Vector approached.
"Hey, kid," he paused and stopped rubbing his head to point at Charmy. "Next time ya wanna fly around the house screamin," he paused again and raised his tone slightly, "do it quietly!" He walked towards the counter behind Espio and leaned against it. "So what were you yellin' about?"
"She's awake! She's alive!"
Vector stared confused for a moment.
"Who are you talkin' about?"
Maria then walked in and leaned against the doorpost, crossing her arms at her chest.
"That would be me..."
