The very first thing Mia did after waking up was roll over and make sure that Ruby was still there. Ruby was safe and sound, snoring right next to Mia. The second thing that she did was stand up and look out the window. To her surprise the snow was gone. The sun shone brightly down on a city that was covered with puddles of melted snow. It had left almost as soon as it had come. Mia's shoulders slumped. She had really been looking forward to spending another day playing in the snow with Ruby. Now she wouldn't even get to see Robert the snowman ever again.
But at least she had gotten to see what snow was like. She should be thankful for that. The sun seemed to be shining even more brightly than normal. Maybe it was to make up for the dull grey skies of yesterday. There was a soft grunt from the bed. Mia turned to greet Ruby as she sat up and stretched.
"Mia, is that you? Dang, the sunlight is bright! Has the snow melted yet?" Ruby asked sleepily.
"Yes, it's all gone. There's not a single flake in sight," said Mia, trying to keep the pain out of her voice.
"Wow, I guess all good things really do fade away," whispered Ruby.
"What was Jasmine asking about?" asked Mia. She needed to change the subject quickly before she became too depressed about the snow.
"About Ivy. Jasmine kept asking me all kinds of questions about how Ivy had done this or that. Honestly, I couldn't answer half of them. I don't think that she is all that happy to be in charge right now," explained Ruby.
"I don't blame her," whispered Mia as she followed Ruby into the hall and down the stairs. Jasmine was nowhere to be seen. Small groups of dolls huddled together and whispered quietly amongst themselves. If fear had a scent, Mia could have smelled the fear in the air around her. All the faces around her were tired and confused. If Ivy had been here, she would have given all the dolls an encouraging pep talk.
Ivy had always been good at lifting the spirits of the people around her, even when she herself was very frightened. Mia squinted and looked over the crowd around her once again. Where was Jasmine? They could all use some guidance right now. So, naturally Mia turned to Ruby.
"Should we head out to the square?" asked Mia softly.
"I don't know. It might end up being just like yesterday. I don't want to spend all day waiting for nothing to happen again. Maybe we should just stay here and wait for now. Maybe Mary will find a way to give us some kind of instruction," suggested Ruby. "But for now I think that we should just be patient."
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"Okay." Mia didn't mind waiting around. The only thing that she did kind of want to do right now was check on Blossom and see how she was doing. She also wondered what Lu and the other rebels were up to. Perhaps Lu had figured out what was going on. No sooner had the thought of Lu entered Mia's mind, than there was a knock at the door.
Ruby was the doll who was close to the door, so she answered it as every other doll in the room turned to see who was coming in. Lu stepped into the hall. A smile exploded across Ruby's face and relief exploded through Mia's soul. Thank goodness, she was alright.
"Lu!" Mia sang out cheerfully, running over to her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Lu smiled down at her. "I actually came here looking for you. We were worried when you didn't show up yesterday." Lu lowered her voice. Was there any point in keeping the rebel’s hideout a secret? After all, Mary probably already knew.
"Yeah, we're alright. But yesterday was so strange that I just decided to take Mia back right away. The weird weather was making me feel uneasy," explained Ruby.
"I understand. You weren't the only folks missing. I think the snow has everyone in the city feeling a little uneasy," said Lu.
"Do you have any clue what could be happening? Have you done any research on this?" asked Ruby.
"No. I don't even know how I would begin to research this. It's nothing like anything that I've ever seen before. I'm afraid we're just going to have to sit with these questions for a while," whispered Lu.
"Speaking of questions, have you heard anything from Blossom?" Ruby asked suddenly.
"Nope. I'm afraid not. I haven't seen her in a couple days," admitted Lu. Those words were enough to make Mia's shoulders slump. Poor Blossom. Hopefully she wasn't too upset. Hopefully nothing bad had happened to her. Hopefully she was still alive.
"I hope she's okay," Mia whispered.
Lu nodded. "We all do. It's funny, I was actually planning on asking you two if you had seen her. But I guess nobody has any idea what she is up to."
"So, we really will just have to sit with all these questions and just hope answers will arise," whispered Ruby.
"Did you play in the snow, Lu?" asked Mia. Mia knew how childish her question sounded. But she didn't care. At least it was a question that could be answered.
"Play? No, I'm afraid that I was busy, and I didn't get a chance to play."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You really missed out on the fun!"
"Well, that's okay. I don't tend to spend much of my time playing," said Lu.
"That's sad! You don't know what you're missing, Lu!" Mia burst out.
"Well, I suppose you're right. I haven't spent much time playing so I don't know what it is like," Lu muttered.
"We can play with you! Please! It'll be fun! I promise you won't regret it! Come on, Ruby! Let's play a game of hide-and-seek with her!"
"We can play for a little bit. But I can't stay too long." An amused smile had crept over Lu's face. "But I can play for a bit."