Her breath hitched as she saw a vivid figure of an older woman, smiling warmly at her. Her eyes were very welcoming, her touches were delicate and tender. The way she reached for her hand to carefully hold it on her own made her remember how it feels like to have a home.

But there's a pain in her heart.

"Eomma..." 

The little kid, who's innocently asking for her mother's affection, received a loving pat on her head. She was elated. That moment was all she was asking for. The reflection she saw in those expressive eyes defined how much she meant to her, like the whole world will never be enough without her and that she's more precious than all of it combined.

But as bright as how the sun's rays hit her warmest memory of the person she treasures most in her heart, was as dark as the shadow of the starless night when a sudden sound of screeching tires was heard in the background. Her visions started to blur. Fragments to fragments, it was jagged from the big impact. Vague images of shattered glass and a spilled paint of red flashed.

The little kid who was once smiling was now looking right at her dying mother, confused. "Eomma..." She placed her tiny palms to her cheeks.

The latter responded with an unfading smile on her lips as she says the name of her beloved little child, "Tzuyu.". Her pair of arms enveloped her into a hug. Then from those lingering feeling of warmth, a sound of breathing has stopped. From those lingering feeling of warmth, it was slowly turning cold. 

Soon, a deafening sound of an ambulance was heard.

And that was the last thing she remembered before everything became black.

---------

Tzuyu woke up from the annoying buzzing of her phone from her bedside table. 7:00 AM. An hour before her supposed to be skype meeting with the student council president of Whiteford Academy. Yup, two month's still a lot of preptime for them for the school fair collab, but Tzuyu being a perfectionist by nature, wanted to make sure that everything is still on its right track despite their slight interruption from their schedule due to this leadership camp.

She tried to sat but a there was a sudden jolt of pain from her head that caused her to go back to her former position. She clicked her tongue. It's that dream again.

No one really understood why or how she became that infamous Ice Princess, as what they have now called her. She, too, never really cared. Maybe it's her blank, expressionless face. Maybe it's the way she bluntly talks. Or maybe it's her cold, deadly, icy glares. Whatever the reason may be, it all started when she first transferred into this elite university. When her name immediately rose up high in those rankings and when she swept that title of prestigious student council president like it was nothing. She had all the attention she never wanted. In fact, she hated it. But it's her only way of diverting her mind into thinking something else. Something that was not of that useless dream that keep her awake all night.

She's about to get off her bed when she felt a slight tug on her shirt. Then there was the clumsy squirrel she knew, carelessly drooling and mumbling something like 'cheese gimbap' in her sleep. She must've drifted to sleep while sitting since her head was just slightly lying on the side of bed and her cast recklessly positioned on the floor. Her posture was undeniably unfavorable, but it was amazing how she managed to make it look comfortable and peaceful at the same time. How Tzuyu wished that she had that kind of ability, but of course, her idea was a pure silly.

She tried to remove her hand on her shirt as careful as possible. Tzuyu didn't want to wake her up. However, she didn't knew how persistent can a squirrel girl be. As she remove one finger, her grip becomes even tighter until Tzuyu decided to give up. She sighed as she looked down. Now, how will she supposed to fix herself before the meeting?

"Tzuyu... Why do always look so sad?" 

Tzuyu, surprised by an unexpected question, suddenly turned her head to the sleeping girl next to her. Is she awake all this time? 

She observed the girl waiting for her next actions. She just shifted a little bit. Her head now fully exposed to the taller girl made it clear that she was still soundly asleep. Tzuyu breathed a sigh of relief.

'Did she heard me last night? Did she came to me after knowing that I was having nightmares? Did she sacrificed her comfortable sleep for me?Why would she do that?' Tzuyu's mind rained her with questions she couldn't even answer. Perhaps this girl might have seen her at her most vulnerable time and she might've came across the room just to look after her in her crappy sleep. The thought made her somehow terrified. She never wanted anyone, especially this clumsy squirrel, to discover what's beyond those strong fronts. She does not want to be judged as a weakling, though the deepest parts of