Symphs POV

After beening absorbed into Ashley's body, I placed my conciousness in her mind and created a projection of myself on her dream. After a few moments of blurriness, the dream began to clear up. I was in the middle of a greyed out city, the sky white. It wasn't unusual, these were parts of the dream she wasn't seeing, so her brain wasn't really focused on giving it colour or details behind the basic structure. I spotted a patch of colour futher down the street and began to follow it. As I turned a corner I found an area fully coloured and moving. It was raining and the greyness of the sky made it difficult to separate it from the other inactive areas.

The colour was mainly around one building, a building which seemed to be holding a convention of some sorts. I was already piecing together what this dream was about, but I would let it play out and investigate before I jumped to any conclusions. I shaped myself like one of the many faceless cosplayers walking about to get a closer look. Once I reached the steps up to the buildings entrance, I saw her. Ashley was sitting on the steps alone in the rain, however she appeared in her human form and not the form of Fire Fist Ashley. I knew because her hair was longer, her body wasn't as developed and she lacked any freckles.

She was just there, alone, with no umbrella to shield her from the rain. Suddenly though, a young man and a young woman walked out of the building, walked over to Ashley and gave her an umbrella. She looked up at them happy, and it seemed that the area around them was becoming more colourful. However, the two new figures soon walked off and disappeared, with Ashley calling out to them and begging them to stay. The colour faded back and she returned to her previous state, only this time she was crying.

Then, a new figure appeared. My father, he slowly walked up and sat beside her and patted her back. The rain let up a little and the clouds turned from dark grey to smoke grey. Her tears dried away before my father stood up and disappeared. Everything was at a standstill, everything except her. I guessed the dream was over, but having me in the subconscious kept the dream going. With this in mind I turned to my usual form and walked over to her.

"Ashley." I spoke gently to get her attention.

She just turned her head to look at me before turning back and sighing. "Are you just gonna disappear too?" She asked in a low voice.

I shook my head and stood beside her, growing a tag drink and shaping it's top like an umbrella to protect us both from the rain. "No, I'm not going anywhere."

"Why not? Everyone else has..."

"Because I'm not part of this dream." She looked at me strangely before turning back again.

"You fused with me outside didn't you?" I nodded. "Don't you know it's rude to poke into other people's business?"

"Practice what you preach Ashley." I countered quickly, not letting her distract me. "Look, I watched what just happened, I've pieced it together, but have you?"

She didn't look at me, she hung her head slightly and sighed. "What do you wa-"

"Don't you dare." I said quickly. "Answer my question."

"I can keep avoiding it."

"And one day in this dream is a minute out in reality, I can do this for a very long time." I spoke with a softer tone, she knew there was no point in dancing around the issue.

"Everyone keeps leaving me or is taken away..." She finally admitted. "Mom, dad, Frank...everyone. Symbol is the only person I trust now...and he's always away and could die at any moment with what he does, he could keel over just by going without a reality star for too long...all I can do is wait. You've said it before, he's only got a few years left..."

"You just don't want anyone else to leave you right?" She nodded. "Yeah...I know the feeling."

"How? You've only been alive a few months, how many have you lost in that time?"

"More than enough." She turned to me in confusion. "You think I haven't lost people? I've lost plenty and I try my hardest to keep those that I have left." I sat down beside her and folded my arms.

She was silent for a moment. "Who?"

"What?"

"Who did you lose?" She asked again.

I just stayed quiet, looking at my reflection in a puddle. "I don't want to talk about it, that's a story for another time."

"I know it couldn't have been siblings or parents, but-" I used a black arm to put a finger to her lips as I stared into my own eyes.

"Drop it." I spoke in a slightly dark tone. I retracted the arm and we sat in silence, watching the rain fall. "Look, you haven't lost your brother or Symbol. Frank is displaced somewhere out there with his girlfriend, and Symbols life can be saved. And then there's always me and Abi. We Symbiotes never really age or die so..."

"Yeah, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not as close to you two. The only person I really have close feelings and attachment to is Symbol." She admitted.

"That's understandable. Maybe in time, but for now I understand." I stood up and began to walk away. "Just remember, my father doesn't walk out on those that really need him. He needs you too." With that last part, I left the dream and phased out of her body. She was still sleeping, so I walked out of the room and went back to the kitchen. "Those that smile the brightest always have something going on in the back of their minds..." It would be awhile before she could come to terms with what she was feeling, but these kinds of things don't just happen overnight. Even with the help of a symbiote or lunar princess.

"Mental note, apologise to Luna for stealing her job for a night..."

Author's Notes:

If you see any mistakes, please point them out to me, thank you