"Monika?"

You had just woken up in a state of confusion, just hugging air, without your new girlfriend in sight.
No, it couldn't have been a dream. The glass of water from last night was on the bedside table, and the other side of mattress was still warm as you rolled over the edge to stand up.
Even with Monika missing, you refused to make the worst assumptions.
After all, people always make bad decisions when they panic, especially someone as prone to panicking as Monika, at least due to her new situation.
You suddenly knew that she was still in the house after hearing multiple thuds from downstairs.
You rushed out of your room, carelessly running down the steps as you made your way to the source of the noise, the living room.
Monika was on the middle of the floor, lying down on her side with bent legs, as if she has just fallen down.
She noticed your presence while you were behind, starting to lightly sob.
You knelt behind her, resting your hand on her shoulder.

"Monika, did you try walking again?"

She solemnly nodded her head, struggling to form an excuse with her words.

"I...I wanted to..."

You slowly pulled your hand, shifting her body along with it until she was lying on her back, fully facing you.
Monika's face and limbs, especially her knees, were marked with bruises and scrapes, each varying in red and pink hues; nothing severe, but undoubtedly noticeable.
The little amount of sobbing stopped, but Monika having to stare back at you and allow you see her injuries made even more tears stream from her eyes.

"Anon..."

She sounded just as broken as last night...

"Am I gonna be a problem to you?"

Those words hurt you more than any events or scenes you witnessed from the game.

"No, of course not..."

"But look at me Anon," Monika's dialect continuing to crumble, "I wake up early just to show that I can keep up with you, and..."

While speaking, she tried to raise her arms, but you instantly know what she wanted. You pulled her close to cut off her sentence.
With her head resting on your shoulder, Monika continued to cry, but more intense and louder, feeling her chest heavily breathe against yours and her tears soak the back of your shirt.
You couldn't believe this.
With all of the talks that you've had previously, Monika always came off as a calm, philosophical, and seemingly happy person, able to approach most topics and situations with the most mature demeanor possible.
But that was all script.
Now that she was real, she couldn't handle herself as a physical being, sitting here blubbering like a child that lost her mother.
In fact, she was a child without a mother, without anything to her name.
Except you...
All that Monika knows is how much she loves you, but it's mostly blind love now that you thought about it.
Was blind love really enough to make it through a normal life with her?
Before Monika came to life, a part of you thought that her future with you would be of happiness.
No, it will be of happiness, full of it.
You just have to work with her over time. Monika was not some visual novel archetype anymore.

She was; she IS your girlfriend.

Minutes later, after her sobbing began to soften, you decided to say something.

"Monika," your voice a little cracked, realizing that you lightly cried with her, "Nothing would make me happier than to spend my time to help you."

She pulled away, staring back at you with highlighted, glistening eyes.
You both gently held hands, yours under hers.

"Are you sure? Look at me, I can hardly stand up."

She looked and sounded calmed down for now, but with the same tone of self-loathing as Sayori.

"That's because," you stood up to your feet, still with a light grip on her fingers between your palms and thumbs, "you've been trying it all alone."

She looked up at you, now with a cute, slightly confused expression. You smiled, giving her arms a small tug to tempt her to stand up.
It took a minute or two, but she managed to move her legs and body to support her own weight, slowly but surely standing on her own feet, her eyes lining up with yours as they shined with subtle pride.
Last time that you felt this close to her, she had you trapped in the literature club.
Now, without her uniform and with her hair down, her hands in yours, Monika looked purely beautiful, more than any woman that you've laid your eyes upon, real or virtual.
She opened her mouth to say something, but you leaned forward without thinking.

"Ah!~"

With your face tilted, you softly pressed your lips against Monika's, nearly closing your eyes. She was taken by surprise at first, but immediately allowed your advance, closing her eyes as well. The kiss lasted for only seconds, but the connection felt separate to time, almost eternal.
You pulled away when you realized what you were doing.
In your head, the kiss was supposed to be a small reward for her standing, albeit with your help. Another part of you wanted to kiss her just because, as if the time was right for it.
For a second, Monika kept her eyes closed and her mouth slightly gaped, as if she didn't want the moment to end, but immediately returned to a normal expression.
You felt your cheeks heat up, red with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry..." you muttered, "I thought.."

"Ahaha~" Monika wore her trademark cheery smile, "You're so cute when you're embarrassed, you know that?~"

"I.. uhhh..."

"C'mon Anon, let's get some breakfast."

She pulled your hands to waltz with you to the kitchen, somehow walking fine without tripping over herself. Your face looked a little confused, then you suddenly realized why she has pulled herself together.
All that Monika needed to feel happy was you. Your support, your comfort, your love would always help her adapt to this world, no matter the amount of effort you put it, the small kiss you gave reaffirming her belief that you will always be there for her.
At least, that's what you believed.
You might have been overthinking the situation, as per usual, but as much as your love mattered to Monika, her happiness just as strongly mattered to you.