Lying on the dollhouse bed given to her by Maya, one of the subjects of her thoughts, Jane let out another sigh.

As her eyes scanned the room, which was mostly dark except for the light from a lamppost that shone through the slightly open curtain, she looked again at the bed in the room where Emily was sleeping with... no one else.

Jane grimaced in disappointment, her heart filled with sadness for a situation that had resulted from incomprehensible choices on all sides.

It had all started about three days before, when Maya had come to tell Emily that Suki, the human who had tried to eat her the first day, or rather the night before it, and had only failed thanks to Emily and Maya's combined efforts, had had a change of heart and wanted to meet them to make amends...

Jane was not a bitter person, but neither was she someone used to taking unnecessary risks, so she refused.

After all, her species had always lived by the concept: "Why confront problems when you could simply flee them?"

Emily had a different, but very similar, line of thought. There was no need for them to interact with Suki, even if she was truly sorry for what she had done.

Unfortunately, this was also the time when Maya did a very foolish thing.

Appealing to Emily's goodness and generosity, she told her to give Suki another chance... and Emily was furious.

This led to a terrible argument between the two of them. Jane, who was of the opinion that Maya was a bit naive, was on Emily's side at first. No matter how good Emily is, she doesn't have to forgive or associate with people she doesn't want.

But, once again, a terrible decision has been made: No longer finding Maya trustworthy, Emily stopped her from having any contact with Jane, fearing that Maya would turn her over into Suki's hands.

She could still see Maya's desperate and crying face, as if it was still right in front of her eyes... and Emily's sobbing from when she came back to her room after their fight was still ringing in her ears...

But she was filled with hatred as well. Hate for the one who was the cause of all this. The one without whom none of this would have happened in the first place...

Herself.

Since the day Emily brought her here, everyone in the house has been through a lot of upsetting things... and not one of them has turned out for the better.

Having her around made them behave strangely and caused them to react negatively to each other. It ate her up inside to know that she had destroyed a beautiful relationship like the one between Emily and Maya.

None of this would have happened if she wasn't here!

Jane tried in every way she could to keep the tears from falling, clenching her fists as she closed her eyes. It would be disgusting and distasteful of her to dare to feel sad for herself after causing all of this.

As she sat up on the bed, Jane looked once more at the edge of the furniture where her bed had been placed. It overlooked an abyss that was nothing to a human being, but an unimaginable height to a Little Folk such as herself.

Once again, she thought about simply letting herself fall and ending it once and for all. But once again, her cowardice prevented her from actually doing just that.

Her mind was in constant search for an answer, a solution, a way out, but the question was still there: Which was the right answer? And was there really such a thing as the right answer?

She was at a loss as to what to do.

The reason for their quarrel would disappear if she took her own life. But it could also be the reason for the complete and permanent breakdown of their relationship. After all, they both cared about her, and they would probably blame each other for what happened... Or, more likely, she was just hoping they would, grasping at straws to justify her own continued existence.

"I am worthless..." she said softly, her voice trembling, "It would have been better if that beast had eaten me as well..."

Several hours passed in silence, Jane lying motionless in bed, unable to sleep, unwilling to rise, her brain pondering, when the alarm sounded.

She watched as Emily began to wake up. She was slow and had a tired look on her face, none of the energy she had had in the first few days. It was obvious that she hadn't slept well either, which was made all the more obvious by the way she staggered to the bathroom for her morning ritual.

After a while, Emily emerged from the bathroom with nothing but a towel draped over her body. She was clean from the shower, but she looked just as tired and worn out as she had when she'd walked in.

Walking over to the dresser above where Jane's bed was, Emily immediately dropped the towel on the floor, her brain probably unable to remember that Jane herself was there, and began rifling through the drawers looking for something to change into.

Jane watched the scene in silence, not in the mood for a joke or even interaction with Emily at the moment. It was unlikely that she would have noticed at this point anyway.

Sitting down on her bed, Emily slowly pulled on her clothing before standing up and going to the door, turning the handle to open it... but the door remained closed.

Confused, she turned the knob several times. Eventually, something clicked in her brain and she turned, her eyes sweeping across the room until landing upon Jane's form.

"Oh... Jane... good morning...?" She mumbled, embarrassed and blushing, her eyes now on the towel on the floor, a reminder of her earlier behavior, "...sorry."

"Sorry for what? I just woke up! Time to get something to eat?" Jane said with false enthusiasm, trying to lighten the mood, but from the worried look on Emily's face, she did not know if she was succeeding or not.

With a slight hesitation, Emily nodded, "Er, yes, it's that time..." and then walked over to the dresser and held out her hand, palm up, for Jane to step on.

Jane accepted the implied invitation and took a seat in the middle of her hand, after which Emily walked over to the door and turned the key with her other hand to unlock it. She then opened the door and made her way to the kitchen to begin preparing breakfast.

A few minutes later, they were both sitting at the table, or on the table for Jane, eating breakfast and looking at a big thing on the wall that Emily called a TV.

It showed two people sitting at a table and talking about a variety of subjects, none of which Jane was able to understand. What they said was filled with words that meant nothing to her, so she did not know what they were talking about.

Anxious to get her mind off things, but reluctant to interrupt Emily as she stared ponderously into space, Jane returned to her self-imposed mission to find out how this thing worked.

Her first impression was that the TV contained members of her species, much to the amusement of Emily, who assured her that it did not.

Now, after a few days of observation and a little more familiarity with the thing, she had to admit that she was a little embarrassed to have said such a silly thing. These creatures must have belonged to another species, since they were bigger than the Little Folk!

She nodded, agreeing with her own interpretation, and continued to study it, trying to uncover all its secrets.

"You think I've gone too far..." a voice broke her concentration after a moment, and Jane turned to Emily, who rubbed her hands anxiously.

"I was afraid of what might happen to you, but I was completely oblivious to what her feelings might be... I'm the worst," Emily said softly to Jane.

"Huh? No, no, no! You're overreacting!" Jane exclaimed, shocked by her sudden pessimism, "It was just an occasion where you both said something silly, nothing big. You both had valid points! Why don't you just make up and get it over with?"

"Maya asked for my support, but instead of helping her or discussing with her why it couldn't be done, I yelled at her. Not only that, but I blamed her for all of it, when in fact it was all my fault. I'm the one who created a huge problem from nothing." Emily replied with a quiver in her voice and tears in her eyes.

"You did have some understandable concerns, you know?" Jane said in a serious tone as she crossed her arms, "Your reaction to Maya was indeed a bit over the top, but it was understandable. That woman tried to kill me, and Maya was somewhat inappropriate in asking you to do this. Look, you don't need to feel so guilty about it. Just make up with her! That's all there is to it! What's the problem?"

Emily shook her head, then got up and walked out the window, her eyes locked on something only she could see.

"You don't understand, Jane. I can't act like this. I have to be a better person than that. Even though I believe what I'm saying is right, the way I'm saying it is just not acceptable. How can I call myself a good person if I behave like this? I cannot impose my will on others, whether I am right or wrong! I'm not infallible, but that doesn't excuse my mistakes! I'm... I'm not like them!" Emily shouted, gritting her teeth in an uncharacteristic display of rage that shocked Jane.

After a few moments, Emily sighed to calm her nerves, looking at Jane sheepishly, "Please forgive me for this outburst… I've shown you a terrible side of me… I'm ashamed."

Jane had a look of surprise on her face for a couple of seconds before she shook her head.

"And why should you be ashamed? It's normal to be nervous sometimes, you know?" she said in an understanding tone, "Actually, it can be helpful! There's obviously something on your mind, and you need to get it off your chest. Even if I can't do anything concrete to help you, I can at least listen to what's bothering you."

"Thank you very much for your offer, Jane, but I really don't want to bore you with my problems." Emily gently declined, but Jane refused to let her refuse.

"Bore me with your problems?! Excuse me for saying that, but... are you stupid?" Jane frowned, sounding incredulous and annoyed, "Do you really think I care that little about you?!"

Now it was Emily's turn to look surprised, "Well, I... no, but... it's kind of a long story and..."

"Then what?" Jane interrupted, "I've got nothing to do, nowhere to go, and all I care about right now is you! I think I can afford to take a little time out of my life for you."

"Thank you, Jane," Emily blushed and looked down shyly. “It's just that... I don't think it's right to burden you with my personal problems... these are things that shouldn't fall on anyone else..."

"And I'll remind you that I had problems that weren't yours either, and yet you came to my aid." Jane said, sounding calmer now, but still irritated.

"That's a whole different thing!" Emily replied emphatically, "In your case, your life was at stake! I couldn't just do nothing!"

"Exactly!" Jane nodded in agreement with her words. 

"If I'm here now, it's only because you made it possible. Just one more reason why I owe you at least a couple of minutes of my attention, don't you think?", she finished her sentence with a smirk on her face.

Emily stammered for a few seconds, trying to think of something to say. But then she stopped herself and started laughing instead.

"You're really stubborn, you know?", she said with a little smile on her face.

"I try," Jane said with a shrug before looking at Emily, "Now tell me what's bothering you!"

Emily sat back down at the table and drummed her fingers thoughtfully for a few moments before she sighed, "Where to start..."

"You should start at the beginning. That would work." Jane said jokingly, drawing a small smile from Emily.

"It's truer than you think..." she replied before turning serious.

"I... I'm an orphan." Emily began, "Whether my relatives are alive or not, I don't know... nor do I care. I'm an adult now, and they were never a part of my life, so it's the same to me either way."

She looked away, embarrassed by how she had spoken and especially by the rudeness of what she had said, but not wanting to back down, she steeled herself and continued.

"I grew up in a Catholic orphanage run by nuns, and the experience was... well, let's just say it wasn't good..." she murmured softly, before shaking her head and thinking better of it.

"Forget it. It was horrible! We slept in the cold on filthy, animal-infested floors! We ate the nuns' leftovers, when there was any, and only when they had the courtesy to give it to us in the first place! They forced us to work from a very young age under the pretext of 'teaching us a trade'! And beatings were a daily occurrence, whether there was a real reason for it or not, it didn't matter!" Emily shouted angrily. "And the worst thing is that they thought they were right! They had this belief that all of their abuse was justifiable because they were the ones who took us in!"

Her hands went up to cover her eyes, which were beginning to well up with tears.

"If we asked for a blanket to protect us from the cold, they would beat us and tell us to be thankful that we had a roof over our heads. If our stomachs were still rumbling after a meal, they would make us skip our next meal and call us greedy pigs at the same time. If we collapsed from exhaustion while working, they would lock us in dark closets as punishment for being irresponsible slackers!"

Jane listened to the story with a growing look of shock and horror on her face.

Although she was unfamiliar with many of the words Emily had used, she understood the essence of the story and was appalled by what Emily had been through.

"B-but how can that be?! Why did they do that? Has anyone ever tried to stop it?" she asked, panicking, not understanding how this could be possible, but Emily shook her head, saddened.

"I don't know... Maybe they really thought they were doing something good, or maybe they knew what they were doing was wrong, but didn't have a problem with it... but who cares? They were still able to make themselves look good in the eyes of the people. If any of us tried to ask for help from the outside, they were immediately branded as spoiled brats who would tell unbelievable stories to get out of doing their chores..." she said, before laughing bitterly, "How many times have I seen some of the children forcibly returned to the orphanage as if they were disobedient animals... Sometimes people even suggested to the nuns that they should... teach us a lesson about not lying... not knowing that they were condemning them to days of beatings and deprivation..."

Jane felt herself shudder, the blood in her veins freezing to ice.

How any human could be the victim of such a thing, especially at the hands of other human beings, was beyond her comprehension.

Jane was silent as she tried to make sense of what had been revealed to her, and then she asked for clarification on what seemed to be a contradiction.

"But... Why do you want to be considered good when the people who are considered good have caused you so much suffering? I mean, you just said that you want to be a good person. But why is that? Shouldn't you just hate them or something?" she asked, unable to understand her motivations, and received a faint chuckle from Emily as she wiped away her tears.

"Believe me, I want to. But the whole point of this whole thing is to try to prove them wrong. I want to show everyone, especially them, what it really means to be a good person. That you can help those who are less fortunate without feeling superior to them. You know, to be good just for the sake of being good!" she said with conviction in her voice... but then the smile on her face faded.

"But now my true self has finally come out... And I am as bad as them. I have fallen at the first difficulty that I've ever come across." She sighed and once again looked out of the window in a thoughtful manner, "But that's what you get when you pretend to be good for the sake of revenge, right?"

But Jane didn't answer, lost in her own thoughts.

‘I would never have thought that humans could suffer like this…’ she thought, feeling ashamed.

Suffering and hardship were common among her species, but she had always thought that humans had a... better life than theirs.

Even though this week had shown her that her beliefs were wrong, she still clung to the idea that her presence was the cause and that their lives would return to normal after her departure. Hell, she thought Emily's kindness came from her naivety! An innocent girl who didn't understand the unfairness of the world and had to be protected because she had never known what it was like to suffer in life…

But she had been wrong about that. Oh, if she was wrong...

The truth was that she had a very good understanding of suffering, and she had no desire for anyone else to have that understanding. This only served to make her admire Emily even more.

"You're a wonderful person, Emily..." Jane said as she looked up at her in awe.

"Huh? Did you hear what I just said? I force myself to be a good person just to take revenge on the people I dislike! I really am not a good person at all! I mean, just look at the way I treated Maya! Is that the way a good person would act?" Emily asked, confused, not understanding how Jane could find what she was doing admirable.

"Um... that's true. A good person wouldn't act like that," Jane said, lowering her head thoughtfully.

"Right! There's nothing good in--" Emily started to answer before Jane cut her off and spoke over her.

"A so-called good person would think that since they're in the right, it's up to the other person to admit they were wrong, but not you! You are better than that! You are willing to admit your mistakes and try to find common ground, even when you are right! These good people, they would never do a thing like that!" Jane pointed out, her eyes fixed on Emily's as she tried to get her point across.

"But... I did it for selfish reasons!" Emily persisted in her attempt to prove that she was not a good person, but Jane exhaled in irritation.

Even if Emily wasn't the naive, clueless girl she thought she was, she was still far too idealistic for her own good.

"Oh, did you? Have you ever asked for anything in return when you have helped someone else?" she asked with a frown on her face, to which Emily shook her head in the negative.

"Well, no, but--" Emily tried to answer, but Jane cut her off again.

"Then what's the problem?" she shouted, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation.

"It's not as simple as that..." Emily said quietly, "I only do this because it makes me feel good, which is hardly selfless."

"It is that simple! You are the one who is making it unnecessarily complicated!" Jane replies, raising her voice.

"You help other people without asking for anything in return, and that makes you a good person! Just because you felt good doing it doesn't make you selfish! Selflessness doesn't have to mean self-sacrifice! So stop filling your head with useless thoughts and learn to take a compliment! And don't forget about the other fool! You two need to make up, dammit!" she finished, panting after the tirade.

Several seconds of silence passed before Emily shyly said, "You're right... I'll do that... I'm sorry..."

After another few seconds of silence, she added, "You can be very scary, too. You know?"

"That's the only way I can get through a head as hard as yours!" Jane shouted again before letting out a sigh. 'I hope it really got through to her...'