“Hi, Aunt Aria.” Dolly Dusk imperturbably greeted her aunt from just outside Sunset Shimmer’s apartment. “I’m here to see my mother.”
Aria was completely frozen in place by shock, her eyes as wide as dinner plates and all the color drained from her face. There, standing right in front of her, was her niece, whom she hadn’t seen in years.
The last time Aria, or any of the Dazzlings for that matter, had seen Dolly was when she was just a little girl. Now, however, she looked old enough to be in high school. Aside from her age though, Dolly still looked the same as Aria had remembered. She still had her foam green complexion, long blue hair with light blue streaks, and the deepest blue eyes you’d ever seen. She also wore a black dress with a white collar and buttons similar to the one she’d often worn as a child, just now in a larger size.
So many thoughts and emotions ran through Aria as she looked at her niece. Part of her wanted to give the girl a big, warm hug since she hadn’t seen her in so long, but another part of her wanted to close the door before Sonata saw her. Given what had happened between those two all those years ago, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that Sonata didn’t want to see her.
“Helloooo. Aunt Aria?” Dolly semi-concernedly stated as she waved her right hand right in front of her aunt’s face. “Anyone home?”
Aria snapped out of her trance-like state and quickly embraced Dolly in a hug. Regardless of how Sonata might feel about seeing her daughter, she couldn’t contain how happy she was to see her niece again after so many years.
“It’s good to see you, kiddo.” She ardently said as she felt a few tears of joy welling up in her eyes.
Admittedly, Dolly was caught a tad off guard by Aria’s hug. She never remembered her being so…affectionate towards her. Nevertheless, she felt glad that her Aunt Aria was happy to see her.
“Whoa, when did you get so bathetic?” She curiously chortled as she returned the hug.
“A lot has changed since we last saw you.” Aria blithely informed her as tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Dolly could only imagine what must have happened to make Aria so much more loving, though she figured whatever it was must have been huge. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but there was one that she needed to ask above all others.
“So, does that mean Mom’s changed her mind about me?” She meekly inquired.
Aria wasn't prepared for that question. She no idea how to answer it because she didn’t know how Sonata felt about her daughter after all this time. After Dolly had left, neither her nor her sisters ever spoke about her again, at least not to each other.
Not knowing what else to do, Aria broke the hug and sternly looked Dolly in the eyes. She opened her mouth about to tell her that she didn’t know the answer to her question when all of a sudden she heard a voice call out from behind her.
“Aria, who are you talking too?” Adagio asked her, sounding a bit irate.
Aria had to figure that Adagio couldn’t tell it was Dolly at the door from wherever it was she was calling out from. Remembering how Adagio had always felt about Dolly, she decided to have a little fun with her sister.
“Play along.” She whispered to Dolly.
Even though she wasn’t sure what Aria had in mind, Dolly nodded her head in agreement.
“No one, Adagio.” Aria called back, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “It’s just some crazy girl claiming to be Sonata’s daughter.”
Dolly immediately understood what it was Aria was doing. She quickly flashed her aunt a wicked smile just before taking a deep breath.
“Please, Aunt Aria, it’s really me. It’s Dolly.” She faux-pleaded with Aria, trying to sound loud enough that Adagio could hear her. “You have to believe me.”
Not more than two seconds later, both Aria and Dolly heard the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. They turned their attention to the direction the noise had come from and saw a stunned Adagio staring back at them with a Cuisinart Waffle Maker box at her feet.
“Dammit, forgot she was holding that.” Aria dolefully remarked.
“Hi, Aunt Adagio.” Dolly affably said as she waved to her other aunt.
Adagio nearly tripped over the waffle maker box as she bolted over to the door and practically tackled Dolly into a hug.
“It’s really you, Dolly!” She joyously exclaimed as she inadvertently squeezed her niece with the strength of a professional wrestler. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you!”
If there was one thing that clearly hadn’t changed, it was Adagio’s affection for Dolly. Adagio had always been the kinder aunt to her. Hell, there were even times she was kinder to her than her Sonata was. It was never 100% clear why this was, though Aria had a theory that it was because Adagio saw Dolly as the child she never had.
“I’ve…missed you…too.” Dolly replied, struggling to breathe due to her aunt’s vice-like hug. “Aunt Adagio? Can you…please let go of me?”
It was at this point that Adagio realized just how tightly she was holding Dolly and quickly released her.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so, so sorry.” She profusely apologized. “I just couldn’t help myself after not seeing you for so long. You’re not hurt, are you?”
Able to breathe again, Dolly took a few quick, deep breaths before responding.
“I’m fine.” She assured her aunt.
Adagio gave a small sigh of relief that she hadn’t harmed her niece before looking over at Aria with a piercing glare, causing the girl to dawn an anxious expression.
“How could you not tell that this is Dolly, you idiot?!” She berated her sister.
Yeah, Aunt Adagio really doesn’t seem to have changed much. Dolly thought to herself, remembering all the times her aunt had castigated her mother and Aunt Aria.
“I did know it was her, Adagio.” Aria starkly clarified as she returned the piercing glare. “We were just messing with you.”
“It’s true, we were.” Dolly amiably backed her aunt up.
Knowing now that the whole thing had been a prank, and that Dolly had been in on it, Adagio swiftly ceased her glaring and turned her attention to her niece.
“Oh you.” She sweetly said with a smile on her face, dismissing the prank as nothing more than child’s play. “Still the little mischief maker I see.”
“Sure am.” Dolly just as sweetly replied back with a smile of her own.
Aria just rolled her eyes. Even though Dolly wasn’t a little girl anymore, it seemed Adagio was still incapable of ever being upset with her.
“Is everything okay in here, you guys?” Sunset Shimmer’s voice could be heard saying from behind Aria and Adagio. “We heard a crashing sound.”
The two Dazzlings turned around and saw Sunset, Sonata, and Rainbow Dash standing over by where Adagio had left the waffle maker.
“Ooh, Cuisinart. Nice.” Rainbow Dash commented as she bent down to get a closer look at the box.
It was obvious to Aria and Adagio that they were blocking Dolly from view, or else Sonata would’ve had some sort of reaction to seeing her by now. The two Dazzlings quickly shared a worrisome glance, as neither one of them knew what to do know, though deep down they both knew that the mother-daughter reunion between Sonata and Dolly was now inevitable.
“Is someone at the door?” Sonata curiously spoke up.
Upon hearing her mother’s voice for the first time in years, Dolly placed a hand on both of her aunts and lightly shoved them aside, much to Aria and Adagio’s surprise.
“H-Hi, Mom.” She mollifyingly said once her presence was revealed.
The room fell completely silent as a variety of expressions crossed everyone’s faces. Aria and Adagio both dawned expressions of worry, fearful and unsure about what was going to happen next. Sunset simply stared at Dolly with a quizzical look, thinking that the girl must be crazy or something. Rainbow Dash got up from examining the waffle maker box, feeling all sorts of confused, and turned her attention to her girlfriend.
“Why did she just call you ‘Mom’?” The rainbow haired girl asked Sonata in her bewilderment, breaking the silence.
Sonata didn’t answer though. She just stared at her daughter as if she were a ghost.
There were no words to describe what Sonata felt at that moment, because not even she herself knew what it was she was feeling. So many emotions flowed through her that she couldn’t process them all, causing her to suddenly feel lightheaded.
“D-Dolly?” Was all she managed to say just before she fainted, falling to the floor like a ragdoll.
“Sonata?!” Rainbow Dash alarming said as she got down on the floor and held her girlfriend by the waist and head, just as everyone gathered around the unconscious girl.
“Is she okay?” Sunset concernedly asked.
“I-I think so.” Rainbow nervously replied as she examined Sonata. “S-She doesn’t seem to be bleeding or anything, she’s just unconscious.”
“Should we call 911?” Adagio worryingly asked.
Aria swiftly got down on the other side of Sonata and put two fingers up against her sister’s neck to check her pulse.
“I don’t think we need to do that.” She relieving said after a few seconds. “I’m getting a pulse from her, she should be fine.”
A collective sigh of relief came over the group of girls just as Dolly knelt down next to her mother.
“Mom?” She timidly said as she put a hand on her mother’s shoulder. “Mom, can you hear me?”
“Get away from her!” Rainbow snapped at her, causing her to wince. “You’re the reason she’s like this!”
As hurtful as those words were for Dolly to hear, she knew them to be true. She looked on at Rainbow Dash’s enraged expression and decided it best to do as the girl said. Slowly but surely, she got up and backed away from her mother with a look of contrition on her face.
“Don’t yell at her!” Adagio snapped right back at Rainbow, coming to Dolly’s defense. “This isn’t her fault!”
“Oh really?!” Rainbow snidely said as she looked up at Adagio. “Sonata was perfectly fine until she showed her face!”
Adagio hated to admit it, but Rainbow’s logic was irrefutable. Sonata had seemed fine until Dolly pushed her and Aria out of the way and revealed herself. Still though, she refused to believe that Dolly had done anything wrong, at least directly. After all, it’s not like her niece had intended for this to happen.
“Both of you, knock it off!” Aria scolded both Rainbow and Adagio with a fiery passion. “Sonata may not need to go to the hospital but we still need to tend to her, and playing the blame-game isn’t going to help any!”
Neither Rainbow Dash nor Adagio said anything as they both dejectedly looked off to the side, disgusted that they’d been letting their emotions distract them from Sonata’s well-being.
“Sunset, go get a damp rag and meet us in Sonata’s room.” Aria instructed the Rainboom, taking charge of the situation since no one was.
“On it.” Sunset steadfastly said as she rushed over towards the kitchen.
“Rainbow Dash, you and I will carry Sonata to her bed.” Aria continued. “You take her head, I’ll get her legs.”
“R-right.” Rainbow ascetically replied as she got into position while Aria moved over to Sonata’s legs.
“Adagio, go open the door to Sonata’s room.” Aria instructed her sister. “Dolly, act as Rainbow Dash’s eyes, make sure she doesn’t bump into anything while we’re moving your mom.”
Both Adagio and Dolly simply nodded as they did as instructed. Adagio ran off towards Sonata’s room to open the door and Dolly took a position near Rainbow to guide her.
“Okay, on three Rainbow.” Aria said as she prepared to lift her sister. “One, two, three.”
Almost in perfect synch, Aria and Rainbow lifted Sonata and slowly started to carry her towards her bedroom with Dolly guiding them.
As for Sonata herself, even though she was unconscious her mind subconsciously still reeled with thoughts of her daughter. She wasn’t dreaming though. No, this was something different. It was more like she was reliving a moment from her past within her mind, like she was experiencing it all over again for the first time. Specifically, she was reliving one of the worst moments of her life; the moment she’d allowed her anger to cause her to lose Dolly.
“Here’s your breakfast, Dolly.” Sonata tiredly said as she put a bowl of cereal in front of her little girl.
“I thought we were having pancakes.” Dolly despondently remarked, clearly unhappy with her cereal.
“We’re out of pancake batter.” Sonata informed her daughter as she poured some coffee into her mug, desperately needing the caffeine.
“But Aunt Aria is having pancakes.” Dolly griped as she pointed to her aunt at the other end of the table.
Sonata turned around, coffee now in hand, and noticed that Aria was indeed eating pancakes. She quickly took a sip of her morning joe and then shot her sister an inquisitive look, as if silently asking her what the deal was.
“I used up the last of the batter.” Aria indifferently said as she continued to eat her breakfast. “Sorry.”
Dolly, in response, simply folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, dawning a sour expression as she stared at her cereal.
“I want pancakes.” She softly, and sullenly, said.
All in all, Sonata really didn't like it when Dolly spent the weekends with her and her sisters. She loved her little girl and all, but Dolly was a very…unique child and could be a bit of a handful sometimes. Now one would think that having two sisters around to help her take care of her daughter would be a plus, but it wasn’t. In fact, having Aria and Adagio around was a hard negative. Aria was always so indifferent towards anything that had to do with Dolly and Adagio, oh, Adagio was even worse. She treated Dolly like she was a princess and always gave her whatever she wanted, often undermining Sonata’s authority as the girl’s mother.
“Please just eat your cereal, Dolly.” Sonata languidly pleaded with her daughter as she took a seat at the table. “We might not be having lunch until later than usual today so you need to eat up now.”
Despite still strongly desiring pancakes, Dolly reluctantly accepted the fact that she wasn’t going to get any and began eating her cereal.
“Morning, girls.” Adagio groggily said as she entered the kitchen a few moments later, looking like half-dead.
“Morning.” Both Sonata and Aria superficially replied in almost perfect synch.
Sensing an opportunity for pancakes now that Aunt Adagio had entered the room, Dolly ceased eating her cereal and instantly began putting a plan together in her head.
“Good morning, Aunt Adagio!” She sweetly greeted her aunt.
“Good morning, Dolly!” Adagio just as sweetly, perhaps even more sweetly, greeted her niece back with newfound energy as she wrapped the girl in a hug from behind her chair. “And how are you today?”
Dolly gave her aunt a quick, gloomy glance before returning her attention to her breakfast.
“Okay, I guess.” She somewhat sullenly answered.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Adagio concernedly asked as she broke her hug and knelt down next to Dolly.
“Well, I was just really hoping for some pancakes this morning.” Dolly explained, putting on a ‘poor, pitiable me’ act. “But Aunt Aria used up the last of the batter.”
Sonata couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she watched the scene before her unfold, knowing full well what it was her daughter was doing, and how she was probably going to get away with it like always.
“Is that so?” Adagio ominously said as she stood up and shot Aria a piercing glare.
“What?” Aria asked in a piqued manner after swallowing the pancakes in her mouth, noticing her sister’s glare. “I said I was sorry.”
“Did you even think that maybe someone else wanted the last of the pancakes?” Adagio condescendingly asked Aria as though she were a child. “Someone like your niece?”
Feeling a tad agitated at the way she was being spoken to, Aria put down her utensils and stood up from her seat, returning Adagio’s piercing glare.
“What do you want me to do, Adagio, huh?” She irksomely inquired. “You want me to run all of my meal plans past you a few days in advance?”
“I want you to think about others before you act, you idiot!” Adagio heatedly replied, intensifying her glare.
Aria also intensified her glare in response. The two Dazzlings just stared each other down for a few seconds before Aria decided that it was too early in the day for this kind of bullshit and silently stormed off towards her room.
“So sorry about that, sweetness.” Adagio warmly said as she turned back to Dolly. “How about we go to the diner down the street and get you some pancakes, hmm?”
“Yay, pancakes!” Dolly joyously replied as she reached up and gave her aunt a hug, which of course Adagio genially returned.
Despite the aggravation it often caused her, Sonata couldn’t help but be impressed at how her daughter was able to manipulate others into either doing or giving her what she wanted so easily. She was pretty smart in general, as evidenced by the straight A’s on her report cards, but what was perhaps most impressive about her was that she was already a master manipulator. Oh yes, Dolly Dusk was a true Dazzling.
Regardless of how Sonata admired Dolly’s manipulative skills though, she was still the girl’s mother and it was about time she put her foot down as such.
“We’re not going to the diner, Adagio.” She spoke up, trying to sound as stern as possible. “Dolly already has her breakfast.”
Upon hearing Sonata’s words, Adagio and Dolly simultaneously broke their hug and both turned their attention towards her in surprise.
“Excuse me?” Adagio curiously asked, as if making sure she’d heard her sister correctly.
Sonata took another sip of her coffee before speaking up again.
“I said, ‘We’re not going to the diner’.” She reiterated, her tone of voice unfaltering. “Dolly’s going to finish her cereal.”
“But I want pancakes, Mommy.” Dolly whimpered, trying to use her ‘poor, pitiable me’ act on her mother.
“Uh-uh, don’t you give me that attitude, young lady.” Sonata sharply said to Dolly as she stood up from her seat, having had enough of her daughter’s shrewd scheming. “You’re either going to eat your cereal or your not getting any breakfast at all.”
Since her mother clearly wasn’t going to take her out for pancakes, Dolly swiftly turned her attention back towards her aunt in the hopes of having her overrule her mother’s decree.
“Aunt Adagio?” She whined, but Aunt Adagio wasn’t listening.
No, Adagio’s attention was solely focused on Sonata. She stared at her sister with a look of shock and awe as if lost in some sort of trance, unable to believe what she’d just heard.
“Oh no, don’t go crying to Aunt Adagio.” Sonata firmly told her daughter. “Aunt Adagio isn’t going to help you this time. Now finish your cereal or you’ll be spending the rest of the day in your room, understand?”
Having no other options, Dolly reluctantly did as her mother instructed and went back to eating her cereal.
A sense of satisfaction came over Sonata as she watched Dolly eat her breakfast. It wasn’t on account of the fact that she’d successfully asserted dominance over her daughter, but instead because of the fact that she’d acted like a real mother. She’d laid down the law and stuck to her guns, she’d even stood up to Adagio in the process. Overall, Sonata was feeling the best she’d felt in a long time.
“Sonata, may I speak with for a moment?” Adagio quietly, but vehemently, asked her as she started walking towards the hallway.
And just like that, Sonata’s good feelings disappeared. Fearing what might happen if she didn’t do as Adagio asked, she followed her sister out into the hall and steeled herself for whatever was to come next.
“What the hell was that all about?” Adagio fiercely asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep her volume to a minimum so her niece didn’t hear. “All Dolly wanted were some pancakes and you treated her like she was some kind of hoodlum.”
“Well, I was just…” Sonata timidly tried to explain.
“I mean, what’s the big deal if we take her out for pancakes.” Adagio interrupted.
“It’s not about the pancakes, it’s…” Sonata once again tried to explain, a bit more confidently this time, before Adagio interrupted her once more.
“Honestly, sometimes I think you’re not cut out for motherhood.” She offhandedly remarked. “Maybe you should just let Dolly spend her weekends here with me instead.”
That remark…that offensively nonchalant remark…was the proverbial straw that broke Sonata’s back. No, that’s not quite the right way to put it. It was more like, ‘that remark was the trigger that caused all of Sonata's negative emotions to erupt at once’. Yes, that’s more accurate. Sonata could feel every negative emotion she’d ever repressed regarding motherhood, her sisters, pretty much anything and everything come exploding to the surface like an erupting volcano.
Without warning, Sonata grabbed a hold her sister by the collar and pulled her in close, much to Adagio’s shock.
“You think you can do a better job raising Dolly?” She asked with a burning fierceness that Adagio had never heard before. “You think you can raise a brat like that with one sister who doesn’t give a shit about her and another sister who does nothing but spoil her better than I’ve been doing?”
Adagio gave a very nervous gulp before answering her sister, making sure to choose her next words extremely carefully.
“W-well, I d-didn’t say ‘raise’ per say.” She feebly said.
“Oh, but that’s what you meant, wasn’t it?” Sonata rhetorically asked, her voice steadily growing in volume. “Well you’ve only played the part of the fun aunt up until this point, so let me enlighten you as to what it’s like to play the part of the mother to a child like Dolly.”
Once again, Adagio gave a nervous gulp.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Dolly isn’t exactly a normal little girl.” Sonata began, still maintaining that burning fierceness in her voice. “She’s hyper-fixated on sharks, she randomly stops in places to watch ants marching along, and she has this strange fascination with knives.”
“K-Knives?” Adagio asked, finding it difficult to believe that her sweet little niece could be fascinated by such things.
“Oh yeah, knives.” Sonata confirmed. “She thinks they’re pretty. I’ve caught her on more than one occasion holding one like she was Michael fucking Myers or something.”
S-She can’t be serious. Adagio anxiously thought to herself, trying to keep images of Dolly wielding a knife from entering her mind.
“So tell me, Adagio, how would you, as a mother, deal with a child like that?” Sonata asked her sister.
Before Adagio could give any kind of response, the door to Aria’s room abruptly opened.
“Hey, whatever you two are arguing about can you do it somewhere else?” Aria annoyedly asked her sisters as she stuck her head out into the hallway.
“How about you, Aria?” Sonata agitatedly addressed her sister as she let go of Adagio can slowly advanced towards her. “How would you deal with a bizarre, manipulative little shit like Dolly, huh?”
All of a sudden, Aria’s eyes went as wide a dinner plates.
“Uh, Sonata.” She tremulously said as she pointed just behind her sister.
Both Sonata and Adagio turned their attention to where Aria was pointing…only to see Dolly standing just outside the entrance to the kitchen with tears in her eyes. It was unclear to any of the three Dazzlings just how long the girl had been standing there, but it was obvious that she’d been there long enough to hear what her mother had said about her.
“I wish you weren’t my mommy.” She somberly remarked.
Aria and Adagio both dawned faces of horror after hearing Dolly’s remark towards her mother. Sonata, however, maintained her fiery expression as she walked right up to her daughter and bent over to meet her at her level.
“Yeah? Well I wish I’d never had you.” She scornfully replied in her anger. “You’re the worst thing to ever happen to me.”
Sonata’s retort pierced Dolly’s heart like a glass splinter, digging it’s way deep inside of her. She struggled to keep what little composure she’d still had left as she ran towards her room, leaving a trail of tears behind her.
Both Aria and Adagio were speechless. Completely and utterly speechless. Neither one of them knew what to either say or do after having witnessed such an emotionally devastating scene.
“Well there you go, Adagio, have at it.” Sonata faintly, but still angrily, stated as she gave an exaggerated dismissive wave towards Dolly’s room.
“W-what?” Adagio asked, genuinely confused by what Sonata meant by that.
“You wanted to spend more time with Dolly, to be her mother, well now’s your chance.” Sonata said as she made her way towards to the front door. “You can spend the rest of the day with her until her father comes to get her tonight.”
“Wait, Sonata, where are you going?” Aria inquired as she followed her sister.
“Out.” Sonata simply replied as she opened the door. “Oh, and when her father does show up, tell him he can keep that little brat. I’m done dealing with all of this bullshit.”
And with that, Sonata stepped outside and violently slammed the door behind her, knowing full well that she may never see her daughter again as she walked away. And that was damn fine with her.
Everyone was silently gathered around the still unconscious Sonata as she lied in her bed, each having successfully done their part to get her there. Despite the reticence however, there was a strong tension in the air. It was as if the room were filled with a static charge brought about by the multitude of emotions surging through each of them. The strongest of them, perhaps, being Rainbow Dash’s current antipathy of Dolly.
“So what now?” Sunset agilely inquired, breaking the silence.
“We should let her rest.” Aria mildly replied. “She should wake up in a few hours tops, but until then though there’s not much we can do for her.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Adagio softly agreed with her sister.
Rainbow and Sunset each gave an agreeing nod as everyone began heading for the door, everyone except for Dolly that is.
“I’m staying with my mother.” She steadfastly remarked, her eyes still fixated on Sonata.
“Like hell you are!” Rainbow vociferated as she turned around and walked right up to Dolly. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re the last person who should be at my girlfriend’s side right now!”
Dolly averted her attention from Sonata and stared at Rainbow Dash with an expression of mild surprise on her face. Had this girl really just referred to her mother as her girlfriend?
“Rainbow, that’s enough.” Sunset said as she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.
“No, I want answers!” Rainbow contentiously replied as she shook Sunset’s hand off of her, her attention never leaving Dolly. “Who are you and why are you here?!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Adagio sharply spoke up as she grabbed hold of the girl, forcibly making her back off then placing herself between her and Dolly. “Not here.”
As much as Rainbow wanted answers, she couldn’t ignore the very serious look on Adagio’s face. It was a look that seemed to say, ‘keep this up and I’ll remove you from the situation myself’, and was enough to get her to simmer down a bit.
“Just step outside with us and we’ll explain everything.” Aria chimed in, sounding a mixture of sharp and gentle.
Feeling she had no other options, Rainbow Dash heatedly walked out of the room, followed closely by Sunset.
“Did that girl call my mother her ‘girlfriend’?” Dolly asked her Aunt Adagio once Rainbow was gone, still feeling perplexed by that.
“Don’t worry about that right now, Dolly.” Adagio gently told her niece as she turned around to face her. “Just stay here with your mother and let us deal with Rainbow Dash, okay?”
Trusting her Aunt Adagio, Dolly silently gave an affirming nod. Adagio, in response, gave her niece a small smile just before turning around and heading for the door.
“Let us know if you need anything.” Aria added just before also heading for the door.
Again, Dolly gave a silent, affirming nod.
Once Adagio and Aria had left the room and closed the door behind them, Dolly took a seat in a chair located in the corner of the room closest to her mother’s bed. She gave a small sigh and looked up at her mother with concerned eyes, hoping and praying that she woke up soon. After all, the two of them had a lot to talk about.