Waterfall - .alice nine

Sometimes, Heracles wondered, if he died when he was asleep, would he still dream?

Thoughts like these plagued him at times when he was at his worst, especially at his current economic situation. The country was the worst it had been in years, he was the worst he'd been in years, and the only thing he could feel was tired – well, more tired than he usually was. It was sometimes all so, so hard to take – his people wanted him to do something about it, he wanted to do something about it, but no, no he couldn't. There was absolutely nothing he could do to help. They were times when he just wanted to give up, when staying awake and not being able to do something for the nation was too much for him – when all he wanted to do was escape it all with sleep.

Despite all the hardship and hopelessness, in the end, he always got through – he had to, he was a country, there was no way he could die that easily - but he had to wonder – what if one day, he couldn't?

One day, he wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. One day, his country, his people would fall apart. One day, he wouldn't be able to do anything for his people. On that day, it would be the day that he never woke from his constant slumber. He wondered if he should even bother waiting for that day. If he died now, he wouldn't have to live to see the day he failed his people. He wouldn't have to live to see the day that his people blamed him for all their problems. He thought, it would be oh so easy to just disappear and never wake up again.

But when he wakes up, and looks into dark brown eyes staring down at him lovingly, a tender smile caressing his tired eyes, he thought, maybe, just maybe…

…he had a reason to stay awake.