Disclaimer: I do not, did not and never will own Vampire Knight. I make absolutely no profit from this, and it is purely for fun.
Author Note: I'm finally taking a crack at my favorite couple... Well, we'll see how this goes, won't we? This is Rima's point of view.
"Rima? Rima?" Shiki's voice became more and more panicked.
"Mm... Evening..." I looked up at Shiki from my spot in his bed. He had, inevitably, gotten up, leaving me cold and alone under the covers.
"Why are you in here? Are you alright?" His hand was on my shoulder, the side that had been injured when his father had possessed him. Yet he was barely touching me. He was so afraid of hurting me lately, even though I was never scared of him.
"I had a bad dream..." I murmured and pulled him down for a kiss. He tasted like pocky and blood tablets, an odd mixture.
"What was it about?" He sat beside me, his hand covering mine. He knew exactly what it was about. So did I. It had been happening ever since our fight.
"I..." I clutched his hand against me. "I had a dream that we couldn't get you back... That you wouldn't fight... and it was permanent."
Shiki leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I'll always fight to be with you, Rima."
I held my hand over my chest where I could still feel the dull ache of where Shiki's blood whip had pierced me. Shiki stood up quickly, and started to walk away.
"Don't go." I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips. "Please, you know it wasn't your fault. Don't go, Shiki."
He turned, but it was obvious he was afraid to come near me.
"Shiki... don't go." I pulled him down as soon as he got close enough, causing him to topple half over me in the most ungraceful way.
"You're not giving me much choice, are you?" Ever so carefully, he moved beside me instead of on top of me. "I'm sorry you got hurt... that I couldn't fight hard enough to spare you the pain..."
"I'm not blaming you." I whispered in his ear. "I'm not mad, I'm not upset, and I'm not scared. Don't blame yourself when I'm not scarred."
"You're in pain." Shiki's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "And it was me who caused it."
"It wasn't you." I swatted at his hand. "Don't think like that."
He tucked his face against my neck, though I knew that had to be torture for him. "Don't let me hurt you again, Rima, not ever."
"Shiki..." I moved to his level and kissed him quickly. "Please. I don't want you to think that way. You're a great person. It wasn't you who hurt me."
"I couldn't stop him!" Shiki looked away and swallowed hard. "I couldn't stop him..."
"Oh..." That's when it really clicked for me. "You've been having dreams too, haven't you? Nightmares, like me?"
That was all it took. Suddenly we were wrapped up in each other's arms, him crying silently, me sobbing quietly.
Finally, both of us cried out, we just lay there, holding each other.
"Time for classes!" Ruka stood in the doorway, but when she saw us, she muttered a quick, "never mind", and darted away, closing the door.
"We need to communicate more..." I held him close. "We can't keep secrets this big... It's bad for us. Really bad."
"I'm sorry." Shiki mumbled in my ear. "I didn't want to worry you..."
"I'd rather be worried than have you keep things like this a secret." I reached up to play with his hair. "I don't want you toughing out this stuff on your own. It's just not right."
"We should get to class." Shiki tried to get away from me, but I held him tight.
"What were your nightmares about?" I asked, my arms still tight around him, not letting him go anywhere until this was over.
"Class is starting..." I didn't let go of him. He had never been this nervous about getting to class on time before.
I said his name and he looked at me, eyes panicked. He was scared, scared to tell me, of what I would think.
"Shiki..." I wove my fingers through his hair and pulled his forehead down to my shoulder. "I'm not scared of you. I never will be. And I won't be mad for something you can't control."
"I had a dream..." He trailed off and squirmed against me a bit. "That I hurt you. Again."
"You never hurt me." I argued quietly. "You know that. We've known each other since we were kids. Have you ever hurt me of your own volition? No."
We were very quiet for a moment, until Takuma opened the door and peered in at us. "Class is starting." He warned, the ever-present smile on his face.
"We're not up for it." I pulled Shiki closer. "Neither of us is feeling too well."
"Headmaster won't be too happy about that." Takuma's grin flickered. "Are you sure you can't come?"
"We're sure." Both Shiki and I said at the same time. "Please go."
Takuma shut the door and walked away, muttering under his breath.
"What if I can't fight him off next time?" Shiki looked at me, his face open and unguarded. "What if I can't stop him from really hurting you?" Shiki was rarely so vulnerable with anyone but me, and even now, with only him and me here, I was caught off guard.
"I'll help you, promise." I pulled him closer. "I'll always help you, anytime you need it. You know that. Because I love you."
He pulled me in for a kiss, and suddenly it was just us, no class we were missing, just us, wrapped up in each other's arms.
The dreams were kept at bay for just long enough, we had the whole night to ourselves, and it was just us.
Author Note: Geez, this took me two days. That's just ridiculous. What did I do right/wrong/in the middle? Tell me your opinions. If you don't like reviewing, PM me with anything you might want to say, I don't mind.