"Nightmare: The Dreaming"

Tags: Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, Eirika, Seth, Ephraim, Innes, Vanessa, Valter.

Warnings: AU, Modern Day. Rated for Language,

Active Imagination and hints of Adult Situations.

Er, it will be rated higher, later. For now, T.

X+X+X

I was fifteen years old when I first saw him; fifteen and 'not-dating' my brother's 'almost-a-girlfriend's' brother. It sounds confusing, I know. Sometimes I don't believe it all myself - and I was there when it happened. The dating thing? Well, Ephraim and I had been told time and again by our parents that dating was forbidden to us until we were at least sixteen. It wasn't expressly allowed then; our dad only amended that they would think about it at that time.

That left us as a pair of young adults feeling very stifled in our freedom. Unfortunately for our parents, we never lacked inventive ways to get around their restrictions.

We ended up befriending another brother-sister pair at school. I think Ephraim really liked Tana and Innes sort of indicated that he might have feelings for me. With the headstrong knowledge that we knew better than our elders, we did the only sensible thing - 'not-dated'. This of course meant that I went over to visit Tana while Ephraim visited Innes at the same time, but we actually switched partners for the duration where there was no parental supervision. I'm sure we thought ourselves quite clever for perpetrating such a ruse; our parents never seemed to show any signs of suspecting our duplicity.

So there I was; fifteen, not-quite-dating, and trembling from having awakened from a nightmare. I did mention the nightmare part, didn't I?

Lying there in an unfamiliar bed while trying to tear my mind away from the terrible visage that had just moments before plagued my dreams, I finally recognized where I was. Beside me, Tana mumbled in her sleep and rolled away from me, dragging the blankets with her. A tiny sense of relief flooded me, but irrational as it may seem I didn't feel any safer despite being awake.

I climbed out of the bed, careful not to disturb my sleeping friend and headed for the downstairs living room. If I was quiet, I could at least watch a little late night TV and hopefully take my mind away from the nightmare for a while. Maybe I wouldn't be as well rested tomorrow, but that didn't worry me so much, seeing as it was a Saturday.

By the time I'd cautiously slipped down the stairs and threaded my way through the empty hallway, I found that the living room couch was already occupied. My twin stared back at me in the flickering glare of the television, eyes tired and filled with shadows. I swallowed hard when he looked up. "I couldn't sleep."

He nods silently and moves over on the couch to make room for me. Normally I'd be all smiles and cheer, but I just take the offered seat and scooted over to where I could lean against his side. After a few moment of staring listlessly at the glowing screen, Ephraim finally braves a whisper. "Bad dream?"

"Yeah." I shudder unintentionally at the reminder.

I feel him shifting his position on the couch. "Me too."

It's silent for a while; only the high pitched whine of the television makes any noise until the air conditioning unit kicks in. Ephraim swallows hard. "It was this faceless blob with teeth..."

"And flowing purple hair, right?" I shiver again as I recall, vividly, how that form had looked. It had been after me, had sought me out no matter where I had run. I could vaguely recall trying to wake up, to change what I was dreaming about. Ephraim's nod casts weird shadows against the couch. He understands.

"Yeah." He looks over at me now, TV forgotten. "It was after me. It was like I couldn't get away from it..."

"And you couldn't wake up." Sometimes people tell me that this is just a twin thing. I couldn't say whether they're right; all I know is that on this night, we could finish each other's thoughts. We'd had the same nightmare.

"There was something else there too. I don't know what...it was. But after it came, I woke up." It's the last that either of us ventures at that point; we both revert to silence as we wait for the dawn.

At some point we must have fallen back to sleep; Tana wakes us up the next morning before her parents come downstairs. We high-tail it back to our respective rooms, leaving no evidence of our presence to be found when the rest of the world comes alive.

X+X+X

It's evening again before I venture to remember the dream. In all the hustle of the day, the terrors of the nighttime world have faded for me. The four of us hitched a ride to the local mall and spent a greater portion of the day strolling around and browsing the various stores. Tana and I enjoyed that portion more than the boys; both of our brothers seem to be glaring silently at each other whenever we catch them unawares. I have an almost feeling that I know what it is, but without some surety I won't voice my opinion; they aren't blatantly fighting and the time is too precious to open up an argument where none yet exists.

We split up after a while; Tana and Ephraim off by themselves, while I'm left walking hand in hand with Innes. The tension seems to dissipate a little as we separate, so I enjoy the feeling of just walking around with my guy. Even now I don't let myself think of him as my boyfriend, because if I slip up just once at the wrong time, it'll be a catastrophe. Still, it would be a nice thought...

Innes doesn't seem to mind walking in silence and we walk for a ways before he finally leads me into a sheltered area removed from the sight of other mall walkers. He pushes me over against the wall and bends down to kiss me. It's kind of awkward, and not something that we get to do regularly. I'm still not totally comfortable with it, but Innes seems to enjoy it, so I've yet to voice any protest. Besides, I keep telling myself that it's good for me to loosen up a little and enjoy life; after all, adults do these kinds of things all the time.

So when he bends down to kiss me, I place my hands on his shoulders and let him. His hands roam downward, never once finding a firm resting place. As our lips meet awkwardly, I can't help but wonder if my brother is in a similar situation with Tana. It seems likely, given how he wasn't protesting at all when she was leading him away. I jump as I feel questing fingers brush over the skin of my stomach and realize that Innes is being a bit bolder than he usually is - today he's touching skin.

That's another thing about these encounters; Innes touches me, but he won't allow me to touch him back. There are certain things that I'm allowed to do, and beyond those lies a great abyss that would swallow me whole should I attempt to cross it. I only ever tried once before Innes told me in no uncertain terms what would and would not be permissible.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm even with him, but then I console myself with the fact that there's no way that I could just leave Ephraim in the lurch. And besides, it isn't like I hate Innes. It's just that nothing about him excites me or sets me on fire. The only rush that I feel is at times like these when I'm contemplating who might be watching, or when our parents might accidentally catch us.

I'm almost at ease again as I grow used to the feel of his fingers on my skin. That's when the feeling strikes; someone is watching me. It's a creepy feeling, and I push away from Innes and stare wildly about. My not-boyfriend throws me a disgruntled stare after taking a quick glance around the area. "Eirika, what...?"

My heart is beating rapidly from the sudden dose of adrenaline and I steady myself with a hand on the wall. "I felt someone watching me." It's hard to tell what Innes thinks of that, but to his credit he doesn't voice his thoughts. He only throws me a disgusted look before he checks the time on his watch.

"Well it doesn't matter anyway. We'd better find the other two so you guys can keep this whole thing under wraps." Innes stands there stiffly while I straighten my clothes, reluctantly allowing me to take his hand when we set off in search of our siblings. Luckily, we find them after a few moments of searching. Tana looks flushed, and Ephraim is grinning from ear to ear.

Innes speaks up rather curtly. "Tana, calm down or mother will figure out that something is going on. Especially since you specifically stated that you wanted to come here with Eirika to try on swimsuits. She may wonder who exactly it was that shared the changing room with you. And you..." He paused to stare at my brother with narrowed eyes, "Wipe that smug grin off your face. It makes you look like a total fool."

I can see the desire to sass her brother welling up in Tana's eyes, but Innes preempts her attempt by stepping forward and whispering fiercely in her ear. Her face pales as her gaze travels unwillingly towards me, and she nods her head in what appears to be compliance. Ephraim and I exchanged puzzled glances, but as Innes strides off towards the exit we fall in line behind him. Tana smiles as we catch up to her, but it's strained and she ignores our unspoken questions.

We're still confused when their mother drops us off at home.

It doesn't matter though; events at home proceed much as they always have until the time for sleeping arrives. I've already brushed my teeth and changed into my night things before that sudden thought hits me - what about the nightmare? I shiver as I remember the vaguest details of what was once a vivid memory. Was it only this morning that I could have given that recounting?

Ephraim stops by my doorway before heading into his room; apparently he is as ill at ease as I am. We talk about minor subjects - schoolwork and sports, the basketball game that he's going to with Innes next week - before he finally gives up and wishes me a good night. I smile. "Pleasant dreams, bro."

He wrinkles his nose. "Same to you."

And then I'm left alone, hesitant to turn out my light. Even though it's an irrational thought, I consider sleeping with the light on just for tonight. Until I remember that our mother still walks upstairs to make sure that we're both in bed and 'sleeping'. The light would not be a good way to keep in her good books- unless I had fallen asleep while doing homework, perhaps. Even with as bad as a nightmare can be, I'm still more afraid of having to deal with an irritated parent. As they say, 'Better the terror you know...' A bad dream won't kill me.

I turn off the light.

Surprisingly, I fall asleep rather quickly. And despite my apprehensions, I dream of other things that night.

While my dreams are certainly pleasant, I cannot recall them to mind when I awaken

X+X+X

AN: Just a preview of a tale that's boiling on the back burner. Comments, suggestions and criticism welcome. Note that this isn't looking to be published anytime soon - there's still a lot of work that I have to go through before I publish more spots.