Author's note: *headdesk* I had no idea that Alice's birthday was during summer break. I'm sorry! _; To make it up to her, I'll write something for her too when I get the chance. (I missed Oz's birthday too outside of the story.) I have so much to do and so little time to do it. Anyway, the title should be pretty self explanatory. In any case, I'm not going to ask (or beg) for reviews since I went on hiatus mid-story again. If you review, I will be very grateful, but I will write whether or not I get them. Echo's personality was altered to match the more recent chapters too, but I made sure to be as in character as possible.

Disclaimer: Mirella is mine. Nova belongs to jellybean-hearts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. The song is "A Bird's Song" by Ingrid Michaelson.

Chapter 18: Echo

Oz's POV

Although the Battle of the Bands was quickly drawing near, Break casually suggested that we relax during the last week and a half before the event so that we don't burn ourselves out. Elliot and Leo took this opportunity to either read or perform at The Blue Angel café during their free time while Break and Reim continued to help me with my plan to win Gil over. Okay. The last part isn't entirely true. In reality, I was just making up excuses to avoid confronting Echo and Alice to reject them. The thought of hurting them wasn't the most pleasant feeling and seeing them smile is very precious to me, but it was necessary if I didn't want to keep things as they are between the four of us. Break pointed out the fact that I was just running away quite straight-forwardly to the point that it felt like arrows being shot at me until eventually I finally decided to go out and do what I needed to do starting with Echo.

Fortunately, I was able to run into Echo while she was away from both Vincent and Bloody B-Rabbit. On the downside, however, she seemed to sense my intentions, so she was startled upon seeing my face. She didn't run away, but it was easy to see her nervousness overflowing as she timidly blurted out my name in surprise. I smiled gently to calm her down, grabbed one of her hands, and then squeezed it as a strange form of comfort that Gil once did for me as a child. Slowly but surely, she began to relax enough to hear me out as I asked her if she wanted to spend the day with me if she was shyly turned away from me with a bright red face as she agreed to spend the day with me without a second thought. I left our schedule entirely up to her, so we ended up window shopping first which ended up with me buying something from The Black Snake due to Mirella's constant pestering. Afterwards, we ate lunch at The Blue Angel, much to Elliot's annoyance since this was considered to be cruel to Gil, and then finally we finished the day off with a walk in the park. Although I didn't mind where she decided to have us go, she chose to do things at a leisurely pace and kept this day more simplistic and peaceful. She seemed happy to go around doing not much of anything with me, despite not showing it on her face, but the way she tightly held onto my hand told me otherwise.

She knows. Maybe she always has.

"Oz-sama, Echo is truly sorry about what happened to Gilbert-sama!" Echo exclaimed as she pulled away from my grasp to face me and then bow.

She did not give me an opening to cut in as she apologized over and over while insisting that she was the reason why Gil ended up losing his memories. Because of her bad relationship with Zwei, she decided to mess up her life by interfering in the form of taking pictures of the two of us together and then sending it to Gil secretly through the hotel staff. Despite all that though, I believed that it wasn't her fault, so I interrupted her hurried mantra to made that belief clear.

With a heavy heart, she guiltily admitted that she was happy when we went to the festival together. She also thanked me for taking her and for giving her the pin and the clothes, which I replied with an shared sentiment, and then she ended it all with a heartfelt confession all while keeping her distance from me.

I have to tell her. I can't keep hurting her like this for keeping her hopes up.

"When I would play my song, you used to sing along. I always seem to forget... How fragile are the very strong," Echo sang softly to put herself at ease.

Recognizing the song, I decided to sing along as a gift for her. She may not be the person I love, but like Alice, I do treasure her smile.

"I'm sorry I can't steal you. I'm sorry I can't stay. So I put band-aids on your knees, and watch you fly away," I continued as I took a seat on the edge of a flower bed.

Her voice grew shaky as she sang the next few lines, so I backed her up and sang this next part alongside her.

"I'm sending you away tonight. I'll put you on a bird's strong wing. I'm saving you the best way I know how. I hope again one day to hear you sing."

After that, I sang the next set of verses before she took over and sang the last part with my accompaniment.

"You know we're not so far away... Get on a boat, get on a train... And if you thing you're drowning, I'll try to slow the rain. In two years or so, drop me a line, write me a letter. I hope you're doing better, better than today, better everyday."

"I'm sending you away tonight. I'll put you on a bird's strong wing. I'm saving you the best way I know how. I hope again one day to hear you sing. I hope one day to see you bring your smile back around again."

Trying to maintain her composure while clutching at her dress, she looked up at me once the came to an end awaiting my reply.

I started off listing all the good things about her because I knew about her insecurities caused by being overshadowed by her sister.

You're beautiful.
You're kind.
You're an amazing singer.
You're strong.
You're a really great girl.

There was no reason for her to sell herself short, so she needed to know that she is special and that the flaws she believed herself to have are nothing more than lies she has been repeating in her heart for far too long. After that, I gave her an honest answer to her confession and gave my reason why since she, like Alice, deserved to know.

"That's enough. Thank you for being honest with Echo, Oz-sama."

She continued to clutch at her dress as she uttered those words with a sad smile, so I took this as a sign to start escorting her most of the way home. Not surprisingly, Vincent was waiting at her house and could easily figure out what had transpired between us, so he immediately grabbed me by the collar with every intention to hit me until Echo begged him to let me go. His anger did not fade even after hearing the sound of her voice, but he did not move to lay a hand on me and simply left me with a threat that I would strongly regret it if I hurt Echo again. Since we weren't on the best of terms, neither of us were completely willing to back down from this fight especially since he's part of the reason why it's so difficult to get to Gil, but in the back of my mind, I knew that this was for the best. He would take good care of her, and if Echo would come to realize it herself, they'd look good together. But for now, all that was left was for me to depart.

She looked back at me to mouth another thank you once Vincent had turned around while I told her "Good luck" before the door closed.

Short, but sweet. I really love Echo and Oz together especially since he treats her like a girl. This was super difficult to write since I've never been on the rejecting side (not really anyway.) I had no idea how to write this, so I tried to put myself in Oz's shoes. I know Oz isn't as playful as he is at the beginning of the manga and the anime, but there's a reason for it. I'll reveal it later. Also, if you are confused about how I used the song in this chapter, send me a PM. It's a really great song and it would be great if you listened to it while reading. It gives it more impact I guess. In any case, I'll see you guys in the next chapter.

-8 days left-