A/N: Sorry for the long-ish wait, I've been anxious about my college (not rly the american/uk one but close) entrance exam which is tomorrow. And also tonight I was watching the parliament election here, so. Gonna go back to that now. Here it is anyway, hope you like it! Oh and the translations for the Italian are just 'I'm sorry', and 'I love you'. Dunno how correct they are i'm not studying Italian so. Apologies.

-.::.-

Nico's back in the forest, again. He can't see well but he's sure it's the same place, he can feel the familiar soft breeze and hear the birds singing. They shouldn't be singing. This forest feels rotten, and the birds should know that. Nico knows that. He doesn't know why, though.

His vision's getting clearer, the blurred trees sharpening out and soon he can separate the leaves from each other. He was right – it's the same familiar forest. He's been here often enough, with his sister. It's the one that's about a five minute walk from their house. Something's out of place, but Nico can't figure out what.

He takes a few steps forward, avoiding stepping on branches and rocks. He walks down the path, the familiar path he's walked so many times before. It's the one that leads to the cliff, Nico's fairly sure. He can't see the sky from the trees, but it seems dark enough to be late evening.

The birds sing louder the more he walks, the tune remaining the same. It sends shivers down his spine for whatever reason, and Nico really wants them to stop singing, to just shut up for a moment.

Finally he reaches the end of the path. The trees fade away to the background as he steps out of the forest and into the cliff. He's not suppose to be here, not really – his sister's told many times how dangerous it is. 'You could fall off,' she'd said. And it does feel wrong, being here. It's not the same wrong as the forest, it's worse, and the birds are still singing even though Nico can't see them anymore. He turns around to trace the voice, and when he turns back she's there. His sister.

"Bianca," he calls out and walks slowly towards her. She has her back turned to him, and the wind's blowing her hair around. The wind's strong too, just like the singing, and Bianca's swaying dangerously close to the edge. Too close, he thinks, mere inches away. "Bianca, please," Nico says again but he's not sure why he's pleading. She still doesn't turn around, and Nico takes more steps towards her. "Bianca?" He asks, stopping a few meters away.

And then she turns around, nearing the edge even more. Nico doesn't know what's beyond the cliff, what's laying all the way down there, but he wants Bianca to just step away and closer to him. Closer to being safe. Her hair gets stuck to her face, and Nico realizes she's crying. Why is she crying? "Is something wrong?" he asks and frowns.

She smiles at him, a sad sort of smile that doesn't really reach her eyes. It doesn't suit her, doesn't look like the Bianca he knows, and suddenly Nico wants to cry too. The singing and the wind get louder each second, filling the air around them.

"I'm sorry, Nico, I really am," she says and Nico doesn't understand. Why is she sorry? He repeats the question out loud. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you as much as I should've been. I'm sorry I can't be there for you in the future." And Nico's even more confused, because where is she going? She's only standing on the cliff with her toes, now, and Nico's worried the wind's going to blow her down. He steps closer, taking Bianca by the wrist and holding her. She can't fall, she won't. She wouldn't to that to Nico. Would she?

"Mi dispiace, Nico," she whispers and her words cut through the singing and wind like she'd yelled them. "Ti amo." And then she's prying her hand away from Nico's grip, and before Nico can reach for her again, she's tipping backwards, falling over and off the cliff.

"Bianca!" He's screaming, he thinks he's screaming but he can't hear himself, he can't hear anything except for the singing of the birds, and he can see her disappearing to the darkness, can hear her yelling through the noise, and suddenly she stops and the birds stop, and everything's becoming white and he can't see, he can't hear–

"Nico," A voice whispered near his ear, and he woke up. It was dark, it was the same darkness where Bianca fell to, and he still couldn't see... "Nico, it's me, it's Leo. Are you alright?"

That pulled Nico back, if only for a moment. He remembered. He was at school, with Leo, in their room, in his bed. He wasn't at the cliff. Bianca was gone, had been gone for years. Nico took a shuddering breath, and then he saw better again, once his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Leo was crouched beside his bed, his hands holding Nico by his shoulders and his face a few inches away from Nico's. He looked concerned, worried.

For some reason, Nico's first reaction wasn't to pull away and get as much distance between him and Leo as possible. He sat up and leaned against the wall, only now noticing how he was shaking, and Leo let go of him. Please don't, Nico thought but didn't say it out loud. Apparently he didn't have to – Leo stood up and soon was sitting next to him, fingers gently touching Nico's hands. The contact reminded him that he wasn't dreaming anymore, that this was real life now. "A nightmare?" Leo asked after a while, and Nico nodded. There was no reason to lie, Leo would see through him in seconds. "Mind telling what it was about? You don't have to, if you don't want, just..."

The silence lasted for a few seconds before Nico whispered in a hoarse voice, "My sister." He could feel more than see Leo's confusion. "Hazel?" Nico shook his head, slightly pressing against Leo's side. He was warm, and real – a constant reminder that Nico was indeed awake. "I had a– a real sister, before my dad married Hazel's mom. Bianca." Saying her name out loud hurt more than it should've, and as if Leo had felt his discomfort, he laced his fingers through Nico's.

"You don't have to talk about it now," Leo whispered.

"Thank you," Nico said back.

And they sat like that, holding hands in silence, until Nico felt like he could fall asleep again. He didn't ask Leo to leave, he wasn't sure if he wanted him to. So instead he rested hid head against Leo's shoulder, closing his eyes. And just before he slipped away again, he was sure he felt someone press a soft kiss to his forehead. Then everything went dark.

-.::.-