"Mia?" Ivy's voice sounded soft and faint. Mia rolled over and reached out for Ivy. She felt Ivy slip her arm around her shoulder and pull her into a tight hug. "You keep tossing and turning, kiddo. Is everything alright?"
"I-I'm fine!" Mia needed to sound brave for Ivy. "I just can't sleep. I'm having trouble relaxing. Its no big deal," whispered Mia.
"Why?" Ivy pressed. "Is something bothering you? Did something happen today?" A sigh escaped Mia. She couldn't hide anything from Ivy. What was the point in trying? Reluctantly, Mia gave in to her fear. She closed her eyes and snuggled up closer to Ivy.
"I just can't stop thinking about what happened to that one doll," admitted Mia.
"Do you mean the one that got stuck in the door?"
"Yeah. I-I just can't get her face out of my head. There was so much pain in her eyes and her screams were so sharp. I-I can still hear her begging for help."
"You know that we couldn't have helped her even if we had tried. We would have just been caught and shattered as well," said Ivy.
"I know. But I just can't get the memory out of my head. I can't even imagine how painful that must have been for her! Do you think anything like that could ever happen to one of us?" whispered Mia.
"Oh, I see. So that's what you're worried about. Listen to me, Mia. I we don't know what will happen tomorrow. I wish I knew but I don’t, and I won't know until it is tomorrow. But there is one thing that I know for sure. We will be together. We'll wake up together and we'll head into the games together. Whatever challenges or horrors we face, we'll face them together. I'll be there to protect you no matter what happens," Ivy's voice sounded unusually soft. Her gentle tone made Mia melt as her soothing words brought a smile to Mia's face.
The child closed her eyes and savored this bit of comfort. For a moment, everything was perfect. Mia felt safe and happy, tucked in under soft blankets with Ivy's strong arms around her. How perfect everything was. If only things could stay like this forever.
Mia woke up to the sound of Ruby knocking on her door. What time was it? Had she slept in? That was a surprise. Mia normally woke up pretty early. The world outside of Mia's window was still dark. It must be really late. With a frown on her face, Mia climbed out of the bed and walked over to the door. She didn't want to get up yet. She wanted to sulk here forever. No, actually what she really wanted was to go back to sleep and dream about Ivy.
But she knew that what she wanted and what she needed to do were not the same thing. With a heavy sigh, she got to her feet and opened the door. At least she didn't feel as tired this morning. But the dream about Ivy had made her feel sad. If only there were some way for her to stop dreaming about Ivy. The dreams themselves weren't unpleasant. It was waking up that was rough. There was a part of Mia that just wanted to stay in her dreams forever. Ivy lived in her dreams and Mia could visit her whenever she wanted to.
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"Good morning, Mia!" said Ruby brightly. "Sorry to wake you up so early. But I wanted to head out and visit Blossom. I wanted to get up early so that we would have time to visit her before the games. But I thought I should at least let you know where I was going first so that you wouldn't be worried when you woke up," she added.
"Can I come with you?" Mia asked instantly. Ruby hesitated and looked over Mia's face carefully.
"Alright. But only if you want to. You could go back to sleep if you want to, Mia." That was a tempting offer. But Mia really did want to know how Blossom was doing.
"I want to go with you and visit her," Mia insisted.
"Alright. But we should leave right now. I woke up much later than I had originally planned. We're already running behind. It'll have to be a very short visit because we can't be late to the games."
"Alright." Mia nodded. She followed Ruby down the hall. Ruby was almost running. Gosh, how late were they running? Mia's sense of time appeared to be broken today. The two girls made their way quickly and quietly down the stairs so as not to wake the other sleeping dolls. They had almost reached the door when a voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Ruby! Wait up!" called the voice. Ruby and Mia turned to see Jasmine running after them. "I-I have a question for you. You two were both pretty close with Ivy, right?" Jasmine looked as if she hadn't had the best night. "I need your help."
"Help with what?" asked Ruby.
"Help with running things around here. I've never done it before! I have no idea what to do. Ivy always seemed so calm and in control. What was her secret? I need to know. Please, I have no idea what I'm supposed to say to the other dolls or how I'm supposed to act! I-I don't even know how she sorted the supplies!"
"Well... I'm sorry, Jasmine. But I don't really know how she did those things either," Ruby admitted.
"Mary will give you a quick lesson in how to sort the supplies at some point. I do know that,” said Mia.
"Wait!" Jasmine grabbed Ruby's arm and pulled her back. "I-I cannot tell you how lost I am! I don't know why Mary chose me! I've never done anything like this before!"
"Easy, now. You need to calm down," said Ruby gently. Jasmine was trembling from head to toe. "We'll figure this out together. One thing that I know for sure is that Ivy wouldn't panic like this. I understand that this is a lot for you. But you need to stay calm."
"Right... stay calm." Jasmine took a deep breath and seemed to relax. So much for visiting Blossom. At this point they probably wouldn't have time for that now. Besides, Jasmine seemed to need their help much more.
"The good thing is that you don't have to figure this out yet. It's a normal day. There are no new supplies for you to organize. Everything is going to be okay. Don't worry about tomorrow. Right now, your only focus should be making it through today's game," Ruby said firmly. Mary really should have put Ruby in charge. She would have done a great job. Maybe Mary was trying to mess things up for them. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what Mary was planning or doing. What mattered right now was that Jasmine needed guidance. Ruby's words had already brought some calm to Jasmine's panicked face.
"Things will work out," said Ruby brightly as she led Jasmine out into the streets. "Just wait and see."