Pain.

Silence.

Nani?

Swirling, whirling, twirling...

Celly's eyes opened slowly as she came to consciousness. She winced and blinked. I'm in my bed... she realized. What... what happened...? The last thing I remember was going into my office for some files. Why am I in bed?

Celly placed her hands beneath her to lever herself into a sitting position. However, she quickly collapsed onto the bed as stinging pain shot through her arms. Celly lay panting, the pain was horrible. She felt dizzy. She wanted to throw up.

"Nani?" she asked herself. Her vision finally cleared and Celly wearily lifted her arms. That she was able to do. The slightest movement made her want to yelp in pain, but she gritted her teeth until she held her arms in front of her face. Her eyes widened at the sight of bandages wrapped around her wrists.

"Wh--what the...?" she stuttered. She almost froze in place, but the sharp pain from her arms made her lower them to the bed again. Celly lay in her bed in shock, staring at the ceiling. "What happened? How did I hurt my wrists?" Celly felt across her body slowly and realized that there was nothing else broken or injured. Just her wrists... and the black eye and cut across her forehead of course.

Celly continued to stare at the ceiling. Every movement she made hurt, so she was safest just laying in one spot. The silence in the room grew. That's when Celly turned her head to look around.

She was alone.

Alone. Oh, kami-sama, I hate being alone... Warm tears traced down Celly's cheeks. She started to cry. The more she tried to stop, the harder the tears came, until she was openly sobbing. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the tears. And she couldn't even raise her hands to wipe her face.

Alone.

Pain.

Weak.

"Onii-san..." she sobbed, not even realizing that she was saying anything at all. "... doku... itooshi... doshite... why am I alone?"

A warm hand brushed against her face gently, wiping away the trails of tears. Celly's eyes flew open and she was greeted by Dion's silver-grey eyes staring into her blue ones. She opened her mouth to say something, when her placed a finger against her lips.

"Don't say anything, Ce-ko. Gomen nasai... I should have been here for you when you woke." Dion's eyes were filled with such pain and self-reprobation that Celly's heart melted. He was taking the blame. But the blame for what? She didn't know. She couldn't remember. She was getting confused again. She tried to touch his hands with hers, but the pain made her wince.

Dionysus clearly read the confusion in his Ce-ko's face. Her tortured thoughts were as familiar to him as his own. Without saying a word, he gently pulled her into a sitting position, and into his embrace. He was mindful of her wrists, but bit his lip when he felt her struggle to lift her arms to wrap around his shoulders despite the pain shooting through her. Celly lowered her head to rest on Dionysus' broad shoulder and she started to cry again. He hugged her to him, giving his quiet support. Kami-sama... he had been so close to losing her!

"Onegai..." Celly sobbed through her tears. "Onegai, don't leave me again... it's all so confused. I don't... I don't... don't even know what happened. What happened? I... I can't... remember..."

Dionysus frowned as he buried his face into his Ce-ko's soft hair. All this had happened, and she didn't even know why! "I won't leave you, Ce-ko. I promised you a long time ago that I would never leave you. I'll always be here."

Celly sniffed, raising her head. "Honto?"

"Hai."

"Demo... what if the Guardian's Council--"

Dionysus lowered his head and kissed Celly, effectively stopping her words and her train of thought. When they broke off, Celly was breathless. "I told you, Ce-ko. I will *never* let anyone or anything take you away from me. Not again. Not like before."

Celly smiled slightly. Her eyelids felt heavy and she yawned. Dionysus slowly lowered her back into the bed and tucked the sheets around her.

Celly touched Dionysus' hand. "You're not going to leave... you promised..." she said weakly as sleep was about to claim her.

"No, I'm not going to leave. I'll be here when you wake up."

Celly smiled again and closed her eyes. Dionysus watched as her breathing became rhythmical, indicating that she had fallen asleep. But, unlike before, this was a sleep of someone tired, not the sleep of someone almost dead. Dionysus took small comfort in that. He took the chair from Celly's desk and sat it right next to the head of the bed. As he lowered himself into the chair, his eyes never left Ce-ko's face. He watched her sleep until exhaustion claimed him and he fell asleep in his chair.

Had he stayed awake for a few minutes longer, he would have seen Celly frown in her sleep, as if nightmares were plaguing her. Her face twisted in something akin to pain, anger, and sadness. Her face soon softened as she still slept.

But an uncharacteristic grin was twisted upon her lips.

Darkness.

Pain.

Silence.

TBC...