[center][h3][color=#cc44ff]Fiala: perfect timing for a god on a machine[/color][/h3][/center]
Fiala couldn't restrain a laugh at the stranger's concern. [color=#cc44ff]"I don't do it often, so I think my lungs will be okay. But thanks."[/color] As she linked hands with the woman, she felt a familiar warmth pass through her, a sensation she had all but forgotten over thousands of years. Could it be - no. Surely she was imagining things, or there must be some sort of mistake. It was the thrill of her escape, the shock of bumping into someone like this so unexpectedly. The confusion about her speed, about the cigarette landing just perfectly -

But as the woman continued, Fiala knew that her speed wasn't imagined. Looking around now, and glancing one more time at her watch, she realized that she [i]must[/i] have been moving faster to have walked this far in that short amount of time. [i]Where are you hurrying this fine day, lass?[/i]

Fiala tried to mask her true reaction by putting on the most sheepish expression she could manage. She hesitated a moment, trying to come up with a plausible-sounding answer to the question. [i]Why, I just robbed my boyfriend, ma'am, and I was making my getaway.[/i] No, definitely not something she wanted to admit right now.

Then she heard the bell, a beautiful sound that haunted her dreams, even to this day. She nearly snapped her neck turning to look in the direction from which it came. Her smile faded. She long since tried to forget that sound, thinking she would never hear the bell again. But she couldn't forget... and here she was, being called once again.

So it was true.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the woman turn to look in the same direction; although the expression on her face was much less serious, as if she didn't understand the significance of the call. Fiala took a deep breath. She couldn't have orchestrated a better deus ex machina herself. Confident that she no longer had to answer the question, and figuring she had nothing to lose, Fiala took a gamble and turned her gaze back to the other woman.

[color=#cc44ff]"You heard it too."[/color] She spoke softly as she took the stranger's hand again. She felt the same warmth as before; this time, she knew it was real. [color=#cc44ff]"We need to go. My name is Fiala."[/color]