~Jessie's P.O.V.~

        A couple minutes after telling him to get some sleep, I could feel Sting's chest falling up and down.  A grin curled onto my lips as soft snores escaped his lips. As much as I wanted to, I knew I couldn't stay here since I might wake him up, so I gently placed his head on the pillow of his bed and stood up to leave, but just as I was about to walk away, something tugged on my arm, stopping me.  "Don't..go..." Sting murmured quietly, his arms gently gripping mine. I slightly blushed, but can't help but wonder whether he's awake or not.  Well, that was different than what he had told me earlier, but, then again, he was really scared when he was awake. I frown, unsure whether or not it was such a great idea to stay.

        "Alright," I whispered, finally making up my mind. I sat back down on the bed and continued stroking his soft spiky hair, making Sting's lips curl into a smile.  I softly giggled.  He's so peaceful and cute when he's sleeping.

        "Hey Jess--"

        "Shhh!" I hushed Lexi when she came into the room.  I pointed to the sleeping Sting and she mouthed an "Oh."

        "What is it Lexi?" I whispered while still stroking Sting's hair.

        "Iya, I don't need you if you're busy.." she said slowly.

        "Just tell me what you want."

        "Well...I was just checking to see how Lector and Sting is, but I can see that they're fine...right?" Lexi explained.

        "Mm, they're alright," I answered, glancing over to Lector, who was still curled up into a ball on the bed beside Sting's.  I decided to not tell her about Sting waking up for a couple minutes, or the fact what he had said was still bothering me.  

        "Don't you see?  I've already hurt you before!"  "I've already gotten you kicked out of the guild..."

        It was weird.  I only met him yesterday..right?  What did he mean by 'I've already hurt you before'?  And Rogue was asking if I remembered if I got kicked out of the guild.  does this mean Sting really did something like this before?  

        "You okay Jessie?" Lexi asked, who had gone over to Lector a sleeping Lecor. I blinked a couple times, returning to reality.

        "Y-yeah, just thinking about something.." I replied.

        "Yeah..." Lexi agreed. A minute or so of awkward silence ensued with Lexi rubbing the back of her neck with her paw and me not trying to glare at Lexi and say, "What are you hiding from me?!"

        "Boys, you know?" Lexi attempted to break the silence with an awkward smile.

        "What do you mean?" I asked.  She shrugged.

        "Us girls always have to worry about them," she explained.

        "I guess I can't argue with that," I chuckled.  After a couple more minutes of silence, I couldn't stand not knowing anymore.

        "Are you not telling me something?" I blurted out in the silence.  Lexi looked at me with wide eyes.

        "W-what do you mean?" she stammered.  I was about to stand up, but then I remembered that Sting was still holding my arm, so instead I just scowled.

        "I heard you, Rogue, and Yukino talking about something!" I loudly whispered.  "What are you not telling me??"

      "N-nothing!" Lexi said and made her wings appear.  "I-I have to go..help Rogue!"  She then hurriedly scrambled out the room, leaving me very suspicious and a bit pissed.  What are they not telling me?  

      I was pulled out my angry thoughts, however, when I slightly jumped in reaction to feeling Sting's grip tighten. "Mmfirfg.." he mumbled in his sleep, his brows furrowing in discomfort.  I was wondering why when I realized that I had stopped petting his hair.  My anger disappeared and I sigh.  When I continued caressing his hair, his grip softened and his frown vanished.  As time passed, his grip weakened, and when it was loose enough, I carefully unwrapped his arms from mine and gently placed it on the bed.  I stiffened when he slightly stirred in reaction, but thankfully he didn't wake up.  I let out a breath of relief and quietly left the room. 

     As I closed the door behind me, I realized by looking at a closeby window that it was already night.  Lexi was sleeping on one of the tables and I didn't see any signs of Rogue or Yukino; they probably went back home. I sighed and weakly smiled as I walked up to Lexi.  She purred and smiled when I scratched behind her ear. It was hard to stay mad at her, even if she was hiding information from me. It's probably for a good reason, I thought to myself with a rational mind. She doesn't hide things from me unless it's necessary, she knows that. "I'm going to go take a walk outside okay?" I whispered to her, even though I knew she probably couldn't hear me.  I petted her head one more time before walking out of Sabertooth. 

       The town looked peaceful at night.  It wasn't like Magnolia, where there would be glimmering lights everywhere, even in the night.  No, this town was more quiet and only had a couple of street lights here and there.  That's one thing I missed about this place.  It was like everyone in this town was asleep and not one thing stirred.  It was a great place to just calm down and walk.  I aimlessly walked around the edge of town, near the street lights just in case of an ambush, but I knew it was a little silly. Who'd kidnap me in the middle of the night?   

~???'s P.O.V.~

        This is it.  This is my chance.  It's finally time to get revenge.  She's out there, all alone.  What are you waiting for?  Get her already!  You've waited so long for this! my mind screamed at me, and I knew that it was right, so what am I waiting for?  I inched closer to my target, but suddenly...

        "KIRA-CHAN!!"  A familiar voice, my own voice, suddenly started echoing in my head.

       "I have to go back to get our son!"  I cupped my left eye with my hand and clutched my head with the other at the sound of the feminine voice. I knew whose voice that belonged to; I could never forget. But why, why of all times must this start playing in my head now!?

      "You won't survive Kira-chan!" My voice shouted in response to the woman's

     "I don't care!" Instead of holding my head with only one hand, I now held it with both. I knew what was going to happen; this happened in the past, and I don't want to think about this now.

        "KIRA-CHAN LOOK OUT!" Still, despite my pleas, the memory continued to ensue.

       "KYAAA!!" I cringed at the scream. It hurts, it still hurts to hear it. It's not real, I keep trying to tell myself to make me snap out of it, faintly realizing that I could miss my chance. This is all in the past. 

     "KIRA-CHAAAN!!!!" My voice screamed. Unable to take it, I slam the palms of my hands onto the closest object, which was a street lamp.

        I shook my head to clear it of the horrible and unneeded memories.  Stop thinking about this now!  You have a mission to complete!  I wiped my tears away and readied to attack, but suddenly realized that the sound made from the impact of my hands on the street lamp's pole might have given me away. I quickly hide behind a pole, and carefully check my surroundings for my target.

~Jessie's P.O.V.~

        Suddenly, as I walked, a loud clanking sound reverberated throughout the once-silent air. I immediately got into a battle stance and put my guard up. I felt a drop, no, a teardrop fall onto the ground..behind me?

        "Who's there??" I asked out loud, pivoting around so that I faced the direction of wherever the drop of water fell.  "Who's crying?"  No one responded, but I still could feel a presence.  "Come out!  Maybe I can help you!" It was silent for a couple seconds. No one responded to my questions, but I knew that someone was out there, and they probably knew too because I saw a silhouette shift from behind one of the streetlights. 

        "Hmph, you help me?" a deep and masculine voice scoffed.  I stood my ground and glared at the silhouette. I couldn't make it out just yet, but I could tell the person was tall and was a Mage. 

        "Who're you??" I asked loudly but cautiously. The silhouette froze for a second or so before slowly walking out from the darkness and into the light emanating from the streetlamp that he was hiding behind. His dark blue eyes glowed in the darkness as he did, and I saw a glimmer around his right ear. 

        "You can't help me," the deep voice growled, ignoring my question. I frowned and opened my mouth to say something, but then a very familiar scent wafted into my nose.  The smell of burnt vanilla.

        "N-no way.." I whispered, barely able to hear myself.

        "You never thought about seeing me again, huh Jessie?" he asked, fully stepping into the light emitting from a street lamp.  His outfit had changed since the last time I had seen him.  He wore a dark red-brown coat with fur at the brim over a white shirt with baggy black jeans, and his white guild mark was printed onto the coat.  He looked older of course, and his hair was gelled down with a couple of strands framing the side of his face.  What scared me the most was that his dark blue eyes were dull and emotionless, yet I could see a burning anger just by looking at it.

        "Why are you here?"  I whispered, my voice not wanting, no, unable to get any louder.  He still stared at me with those emotionless eyes, and made my stomach tie into knots of guilt.  Is it my fault he's like this?  I asked myself, despite the situation I knew I was in. "Wait, you..were the one crying, weren't you?" I asked, my voice finally able to grow louder, but not by much. His emotionless flickered with anger and he glowered at me. 

        "That's none of your business," He spat coldly. "For now...You'll find out soon enough." All of a sudden, a white glowing chain appeared from the darkness of the night surrounding us. Before I could even dodge it, it coiled around my body and gripped it tight.

        "Gah!" I coughed as the chains squeezed the air out of me. My feet then dragged on the gravel as I was abruptly pulled towards something, or I should say someone.

       "Hey hey, didn't forget about me, right?" a certain mohawked man whispered into my ear. I cringed in disgust as I could feel his hot breath trickle down my neck. I tried to use magic, but I then suddenly realized something. Under the chains, I unclenched my hands. Even if I could use magic, I wouldn't.

        "Ring magic: Sleep." Hornet raised his left hand. A green mist appeared from a ring on his hand and snaked its way towards me. 

        "Hehe, g'night," Hebi smirked as he put on his gas mask. I didn't cringe or flinch as I watched the mist close the gap between itself and me.

        "What are you doing?!" I heard yet another voice out of the blue. I immediately knew who it belonged to, and, without evoking suspicion, glanced towards my right, where Hebi wasn't standing. There, standing under one of the streetlamps, was Caesar with an angry expression on his face.

        "What do you think I'm doing?" I hissed under my breath, quickly giving Hebi a glance. He didn't seem to hear me, or Caesar.

        "You can easily get out of these chains, magic or without!" he harshly spat.

        "...I know," I mumbled.

        "WHAT?!  Then what are you waiting for?!"

        "..."  I gazed down to the floor.

        "Eliza, get out of those chains!" Caesar yelled at me. My eyes grew wide as the huge fire from my dream replayed in my mind. The recollection made me realize that it was Caesar who was calling a young me. Did he..?

        "What...what did you call me?" I asked slowly, lifting my head to face him.  Caesar's eyes widened and he clasped his mouth with his hands when he realized what he just had said.  I never got to hear whatever his response was, however, because the green mist finally reached me.  Almost instantly, drowsiness washed over me. I instantly felt lightheaded, and my body felt numb, making my legs buckle. I didn't even feel my body's impact with the floor, only that it did.

        "Tch, sweet dreams brat," I faintly heard Hebi say as picked me up with his chains. I vaguely see Hornet come into my swimming vision, but by then my mind had wandered to away from reality.

        'Eli...za...why does it sound so familiar..?'  

        The corners of my vision was quickly turning darker and my surroundings faded around me.  I don't even remember closing my eyes, only that the darkness consumed me.