A dull throbbing woke her up. She was dragged from the darkness of a dreamless sleep, into a reality where something was squirming against her head. Blinking up at the ceiling, not noticing at first that it wasn't the same as her own, she reached up and rubbed one eye with a gloved hand. The back of her neck smarted something fierce, but Sloth seemed to be okay, and she chalked it up to a muscle cramp. The room was silent, and as she pushed herself up and glanced around, she found that it was not her own. It was someone else's... The sound of soft breathing caused her to turn her head, and she froze like a deer in headlights.

Saphirus... the man who had been plaguing her thoughts and dreams since she had left the Mansion... was sleeping peacefully in a chair next to her bed. It only took a moment for her medication addled brain to come to the conclusion that she was dreaming again. In a way... the realization caused her panic to fade. He was alive in this one, it seemed. Though he looked like he hadn't slept much at all. Smiling softly, she pushed her covered back, glancing down at her jammies. She exited the bed, not even noticing the spots of blood and fluids that she had left on the pillows and sheets. Sometime in-between her trip from the Sanctuary to the mansion, her missing serpents had decided to return to her. Though they were small at the moment, much smaller than when they had been violently forced to part with her, she took no notice to the many squirming black bodies wriggling about her head. This was a dream after all... she was hardly surprised that the pesky things were back.

Barefoot, the Greek slipped around the room, peeking in places, poking at holes in the walls where bits of broken metal and plastic were lodged. She assumed that the many little springs and shards belonged to the broken clocks scattered about, and moved on. There was a desk... a bathroom... a pig who was snoring gently in one corner of the room. Her smile widened at the sight of the animal, and she padded over to softly scratch it's belly. She had missed the little hog... very much so. Andrea turned back to the sleeping man, who's ragged appearance wiped the smile from her lips. He looked as though he hadn't eaten very well either... or showered for that matter. Turning to the door, she stepped out into the hall quietly. It was dark outside... but whether that meant it was night, or something else she couldn't tell. Dreams were funny like that sometimes.

With her head in the clouds, she wandered down to the kitchen, following the old familiar path that she was used to. She set about gathering things to cook, wondering slightly what everything was so... normal. The last time she had dreamed about real life things, she had been back in Greece. She missed dearly her mothers cooking...

After fifteen minutes or so standing around in front of the stove, she managed a decent looking omelet, grabbed a plate and some silverware and wandered back up to the room she had come from. She half expected everything to be different when she got back, and was mildly surprised by the fact that it wasn't. Saph was still sleeping, Piggy was still snoring... everything was normal. She shrugged it off, and closed the door behind her, climbing back into the bed, and settling the plate in her lap. Reaching out with the hand closest to him, she touched his cheek gently, and smiled.

He'd been having a good dream. No sights, no sounds... He was just warm. There was a bit of a breeze pushing a lazy wind over him, wrapping him in it's embrace. He felt himself breathing; inhaling, exhaling slowly... In the back of his mind he could feel the tickle of an added sense, which formed a familiar frame.

The female shape wandered about him, and then floated off; he suddenly felt a little colder... A shiver creeped down his spine... Before he knew it, she was back again. A smell crept into his conscious mind; it pulled him from his slumber, albeit slowly; other senses began to take hold. He heard the pig snoring softly; that was okay... they'd actually warmed up to each other a little after a while.. After that.. what was it... footsteps?

Something soft touched his cheek, then the image of a giant red fist speeding toward his face jerked him from his sleep, and then back in his chair, which subsequently tipped back, causing him to smack into the ground, still seated... He blinked a few times in tired surprise, and looked down to see a green woman sitting on the bed, a plate on her lap.

And then miss piggy woke up.

The Greek giggled, not worried in the slightest about her companions sudden trip to the floor. People couldn't get hurt in dreams... so there was no reason for concern. Setting the plate aside, she slipped back out from the covers and let her feet touch the floor. It was cold, but she didn't notice. The various things coursing through her body left her feeling airy and light, as if she were made of something other than flesh. When she walked, it felt kind of like she was gliding.

Standing, she moved to the foot of his toppled chair and stared down at him, before the pig caught her attention. Piggy snuffled at the air, before wriggling futility to get herself up onto her toes. The small creature clambered across the floor as fast as her legs could take her, before running smack into the wall beside Andrea. Piggy was still half asleep, but her excitement was overwhelming. She let out squeal after high pitched squeal of glee, and Andrea laughed heartily at the animals antics.

Then, she looked back down to Saph... and emotion overtook her. It was a dream... she knew that... but she missed him so much. This vision, this un-reality was as close to him as she had been in what seemed like years.

... and there he was, just sitting there before her.

Tears clouded her eyes, and she flung herself forward, over the toppled chair, and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "... I miss you so much... why must you torment me like this...."

Piggy was happy to see Andrea. Saph was simply shocked... Was he still asleep? No, the pig running into the wall was too hilarious to be one of his dreams; his dreams tended to be a little less light hearted. It was reality; he was almost certain.

He couldn't help but smile at the laugh that rang from the green girl's mouth. She seemed alright.. Everything was okay. She turned back to him, his eyes found hers. They were just as pretty as he remembered them

Oh wai-

Burying her face in his neck, she sobbed and cried. Admitting things that she had only ever told Sloth and herself. Her feelings for him, her regrets over having ever left... all of the terrible things that had happened to her.

... All of the lovely people she had met.

With a sniffle, she curled up in his lap, not finding the position awkward in the least, and stared vacantly at the wall. In a small, terrifying way, his silence reminded her of the dream. That dream...

But... one could not simply force themselves awake... and he was warm and very much alive in this vision. She would take what was offered to her, and be blissful for however short her sleep was. She knew that when she woke up there would be a lot of things to think about... a lot of questions.

Like... who had that boy been? How had she fallen back asleep? What had all of that racket been about, anyway? Right now however, in the comfortable silence that had fallen over her, she stared at her pig- who was oddly still- and sang a little greek tune to herself quietly, toying with the tipple tufts of hair at the back of her seats neck.

He didn't hear a word... He didn't feel a thing, though he would have liked to...

He would have liked to have told her how much he'd missed her; how lost he'd been without her, even after their relatively brief time together. He would cry along with her, even though he was supposed to be way too tough to cry...

Instead, he thought nothing at all, until he woke, a little green woman cuddling into him...

His arms slowly wrapped around her... He didn't know what to say; he didn't even know what was going on exactly; but he knew that he had to say something... The only thing he could manage was a soft. "Hi..."

And then a pig hopped on his face and tried to get at it's long lost owner. "Umph! Fplhfa capfla plabble!"

Her muttered lyrics were interrupted by a voice, a voice she had longed to hear for a while. The Greek reveled in it for a long while, not bothering to reply to him... and then Piggy jumped on in and ruined it.

With a giggle, she scooped the squirming pink thing up in her arms, and detached herself from Saph's lap. Half dancing across the room while muttering sweet nothings in her native language to the creature. She had gotten fatter... somehow Andrea found that fitting.

"...I do not want to wake up from this... Oh! I wonder if the Garden will be here..."

Turning, she started to move back toward Saphirus, intent on dragging him with her. Though, it was her dream, so he'd probably be more than willing. Instead, one of the small snakes squirming around in her heair got in a fight with another, and it ended with her getting nipped on the ear.

She hissed at the pain, one hand flying to the little pinpricks, and when she pulled it back there were little spots of blood on her fingertips. The Gorgon blinked, her lips parting in confusion. She didn't feel pain in dreams... not physical pain, anyway. Not like that...

In an instant, reality came crashing in like the Koolaid man, not caring in the least for her carefully constructed mental walls. She dropped Piggy like a sack of potatoes, earning a squeal of surprise, and felt her head swim. "...I am... not dreaming." Her cheeks heated to the point where it felt like her face had caught on fire, and she turned brown from her toes to her nose.

She had just been in Saph's lap.... the *real* saph's lap. SHE HAD JUST PLAYED WITH HIS HAIR. The Greek toppled, fainting dead away, droppin to her knees before planting her face into the floor.

...For the second time in her life.

He'd been just about to shove miss piggy off when the burden was suddenly lifted from his face, along with the weight on his lap, which he kinda missed, to be honest. He smiled pleasantly as she danced across the room whispering the to mini swine. Yes, piggy had put on some pounds, and he couldn't help but notice Andrea had bounced back from her frighteningly thin state before she'd disappeared. He had to say... He liked what he saw... It made it a lot easier not to make eye contact.

More importantly, though, he could tell she was glad to be back. Part of him had been frightened that she had actually wanted to stay at that horrid place, but he could tell he'd done the right thing... She was almost deliriously happy to be back...

"...I do not want to wake up from this... Oh! I wonder if the Garden will be here..."

Wait, no... She was actually delirious.

"uhm..."

"...I am... not dreaming."

"No..." He noticed the signs of a faint coming on, and stepped in to catch her before she plopped onto the ground... As he looked down at the woman, a smile started to form, and then a giggle, and then a solid laugh.

He shifted her into a easily carried position, and turned to the bed... It was soaked in snake juice... hmm... He would have to fix that. For now, he placed her on her former room mates bed, and fanned her with his hand, looking back to the omelet on his bed.

His stomach growled.

The momentary spell of unconsciousness wore off, and she came too again. Only... this time she was back on a bed, and Saph was there... fanning her gently. She sat bolt upright, connecting face first with his face... only, nothing happened. Sloth was jostled around her neck, and her hair wiggled nervously. She was breathing harder, almost panicked. "What am I doing here?" She asked, her voice quiet and soft.

She wasn't supposed to be here! Not for real! "I am not supposed to be here! Take me back! Take me back right now!"

She hurried off the bed, tugging her shirt down to cover part of her exposed midsection, and headed straight for the door. She didn't know what was going one... how she had gotten from one place to the other, but she knew that she absolutely could not stay.

Saph tried to jolt back when she sat up suddenly, but his turning reflex prevented him from moving away from the incoming force. He hadn't been prepared to resist it, so she popped into him, and... well, nothing happened. He got an almost unnoticeable amount of energy from it.

After that, though, she freaked out. A look of shock permeated his facial features as she talked about how she didn't belong at the mansion, and... she wanted to go back.

His heart dropped into his shoes as she headed for the door, and he hurried to make it there first, stepping in front of her. His interception wasn't accompanied by a stern or calculating look, as most mid-door cut offs in history tended to be... His eyes were pleading with all of his being.

"No... Please... Don't leave..."

Her serpents were starting to react to her panic, Sloth squirmed uneasily. He recognized the man who blocked their path... he was a danger to be avoided. But the other, smaller snakes did not hold the same knowledge. A few of them let out little hisses, being too small to strike out or do any real damage from where Andrea stood. She froze on the spot, shaking slightly and wringing her hands in front of her.

He... didn't want her to leave. "...I cannot stay... I will not put y-" She caught herself at the last minute, and dropped her eyes from the wall next to him, to the floor. "I do not want to put anyone in danger.. I cannot live with myself if I harm the people here..."

More tears pricked at her eyes, and she clenched her hands at her sides. "Everyone is better off if I am far away..." She recalled everything she had said, but was aware enough at the present to make the connections between the dots. Saph had been still and silent... he had probably been affected by her power. That meant that he hadn't heard her confessions... and she could leave him be without affecting him anymore than she already had.

One of her newly birthed snakes fell into her vision, and she finally paid attention to it. Orange eyes went wide, the salty tears captured in her lashes dripped and she stared in wonder at small black snake hanging before her face.

...they... were back? For real? Her vision swam again, and she reached out for something to steady her. Her mind couldn't keep up with all of this... these... things that were happening. "...Wha-... How.. are they back?" Slapping a palm to her forehead, she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth. She could feel a headache coming on.

She was speaking nonsense. She didn't put him in danger at all; hell, he'd gotten hurt more physically and emotionally since she left than he had while she was there, by far. Everyone he knew that knew her here missed her almost as much as he did.

"Look at me... Do I look like I'm better off without you?" He truly did look like a mess; he was beaten, dirty, unshaven, and he had a wild, yet somehow empty, small look in his eyes, Then again, if she looked, he would be frozen where he stood, so... there was that.

She noticed her snakes before she responded anyway, and their presence seemingly distressed her. He heard her mention them being back, and the image of the scene at the church hit him like a ton of bricks. Before he knew it he was stepping in to embrace her just as she reached out for something to balance on. "I was so worried. I went to the church... I thought... It doesn't matter what I thought. You're fine, and you're staying here."

The serpents in her hair wiggled, visibly distressed by her train wreck of emotions. It felt like the world was all coming back to her, from deep within the haze her medication had built up around her. She could feel her scalp, the wetness and the pain of the recently birthed snakes. Andrea could not wrap her mind around them being back... it still seemed like it was only yesterday that they had all been violently lopped off.

Saph stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her, and everything just.... stilled. She could feel her heart beating and the panicked way she was breathing... but she could also feel Saph's heart. It calmed her. She relaxed, leaning into his embrace, and let herself weep. "...Oh saphirus... I am so sorry I left."

Slowly, with heavy arms, she returned the hugs. It was needed... she needed it very much. After having to more or less block him from her mind for so long, she was determined to let herself have this one thing. "I never meant to hurt anyone.. I thought everyone would be better off without me here.. I... I..."

Standing on her tippy-toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck again and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder. "I missed you so much... A day did not go by that I did not regret leaving." The snakes on her head shifted, leaning away from Saph as Sloth did. Their presence brought her straight back to that night.. the church, as he had mentioned. She sobbed, and squeezed her eyes shut tight. "...I love you...."

She hugged him back. She apologized, he told her it was okay, he patted her hair, ignoring the snakes that nipped at his fingers; they would learn to live with him, he was sure.

And then she said it. Those three short words. How could such a small statement freeze a man who had won so many staring contests with death himself? They did, however. His eyes widened, and he pulled her back to look at her, careful not to make eye contact... His eyes shot about her features as if he were searching for something. And then he spoke.

"I looked for you when you left. I searched frantically, I didn't sleep... I spent every hour working, throwing myself recklessly into danger, drinking, and looking for you. I didn't even know where to look. I felt like less of a human being, and I wasn't even sure why. I thought maybe it was because you were the one thing I wasn't able to protect... But that wasn't it... I know that now. It was because without you here with me, there is a hole in my heart. I love you too, Andrea." He then clenched her close, careful not to hurt her.

"I will always be there to protect you from now on. No one will hurt you ever again."

His confession caused her heart to skip a beat. He admitted many things, but none of them hurt her more than his admission of the danger he had put himself in because of her. The color would have washed from her face, if physically possible. She shuddered, allowing herself to be scooped up into a fierce hug... and stared wide eyed at the wall behind them.

Slowly, as if any fast movements would cause such a fragile moment to shatter like glass, she pulled away. She wanted so desperately to look him in the eyes, to search the colorless gray for answers to the many questions sprang to life from his words... but she couldn't. Her features twisted into a mix of confusion and concentration, and she stared pointedly at his chest... where her hands sat motionless. Palms flat against his shirt.

Of everything that had happened to her since leaving... the idea that she had caused him such pain struck her hard. She was the reason he looked so terrible. She was the reason he hadn't slept for eaten... she was the reason he had driven himself into the ground.

A certain cockroaches words came floating back to her and she sucked a breath in sharply, her lips pulling back into a pained, silent snarl. A look of absolute horror overtook her eyes, and she broke contact with him. The man she had just confessed her love to... the man who had just confessed his love back.

You play innocent, act coy... One might even think you were a good person... You know better, though...

She shuddered involuntarily, taking a quick step away and then another. Turning, her hands flew to her hair, then her ears... as if she could block that terrible, terrible voice out. Images flashed through her mind... of her dreams. Silent, unmoving figures. Cold bodies that had long been forced into violent retirement from life. Saph's unblinking gaze...

You are the most pathetic and cruel type of monster. The type that lies about it.

"...I... I cannot.." Her fingers balled into fists, tugging hair and small wiggling snakes alike. "...I can't do this... I should not fill that hole in your heart... I should not be anything to you! I should not even be in this country!" She set herself down on the bedside, facing away from him, eyes squeezed shut. "I will only hurt you... This is all a lie... I cannot be what I am not..." Salty tears slipped out, racing down her cheeks and onto her clothed knees. "I refuse to be what I am not, if it means hurting you any further!"