"Feliciano...mio figlio, vieni qui…"

Feliciano sat up with a start, breath going heavy and his eyes blinking in rapid succession. Suspense built up quickly, flooding his body and making him feel the sudden need to move, scramble, to just get away. Limbs moved on their own accord, and his body lurched forward gripping at the bed sheets for leverage. Yet, his torso stayed in place, only budging enough to allow his head to bob forward in a pathetic attempt at reaching some sort of freedom.

Strong arms were the source of his sudden and unannounced restraint. He wondered when they had appeared, or if they had been there the whole time. His hands relocated and tugged harshly at them, trying to get them to release his hips. Yet, the arms did not budge at all and the Italian actually felt them tighten slightly. A familiar feel came with the tightness of the hold, one Feliciano knew all too well. Yet, his breath continued to climb in rapidness, despite the gentle rubbing at his hip bones that was trying to offer comfort. Ludwig started taking deep breaths to encourage Feliciano to follow the same pattern. Yet, the Italian could do nothing but shiver, terrified to move.

"Feli, you were having the nightmare again." Ludwig's tone was soft, and despite the clear worry the lack of sleep made Feliciano feel the need to respond with 'no shit.'

"Yeah." Was the weak answer that came out of his chapped lips instead. His throat was rough, making the usually higher than average pitch come out scratchy. He grimaced at it, wanting to rub his neck but he felt frozen. So just helpless that it hurt.

"Do you want some time to think? I can get water."

On any other night, in any other circumstance, the Italian would let out a sob and beg the German to stay, clinging to him and against the even thought of Ludwig leaving him for any amount of time. Feliciano was too reliant for even his own liking, but it was a fact he could not deny. He needed comfort constantly when he was younger, he needed it more often than not now.

But Feliciano nodded, eyes still trained on the sheets twisted and clenched in his fists. He felt the strong arms retreat, and his body relaxed fully, thankful to be let out of his temporary restraints. He felt the need to apologize to Ludwig for his inherent fear, but before he could the blond was gone, leaving quickly and closing the door to their dorm. Feliciano was thankful that Ludwig took the tension with him, as the room returned back to the calm and quiet one he had fallen asleep in earlier, instead of the suspenseful void he had been in moments ago.

It wasn't his partner that made him tense or feel uneasy, but the idea of having him around after the nightmare gave him such guilt and fear that Feliciano could never look at Ludwig after it. Not till he cleared his head. Luckily, Ludwig was as clever as always and Feliciano knew his water run would take longer than 30 minutes, despite the kitchen being right next to the dorms at the base. Sometimes Feliciano would want it to last longer, sometimes shorter. It depended on the nightmare each time. Sometimes it would be short, and he would only need a small cool down. Other times, Feliciano would scurry and lock the door after Ludwig had left, pretending not to hear the gentle knocks as he curled up, hands buried in his hair and tugging, demanding for her to go away.

Closing his eyes, he quickly fell back against the mattress. The nightmare hadn't been so intense this time around, and he felt far too sluggish from the adrenaline leaving his system to get up and lock the door.

Feliciano laid for a long time in the silence, feeling his body work out, even more, tension as he listened to the gentle hum of the building instead of the thoughts running and clanging in his head. It was comforting, the hum of machinery that pumped into the base. It reminded him of Kiku and his workshop, which in turn brought happy thoughts to his head, ones of friendship and laughter.

'Kiku how do you build such complex machinery? And the power circuit alone must have been a nightmare to figure out!'

Kiku chuckled, giving Feliciano a sideways look. 'Trust me, you could do it too, Feli, if someone taught you like they did me.'

'I'm your friend, Kiku. That doesn't mean you get to lie to me about my own capabilities! I couldn't figure this out even if I tried.'

Kiku laughed again, and Feliciano giggled alongside him, looking at the new katanas Kiku had been specializing so he too could become of use despite his lack of a superpower.

'Your engineering really is amazing, Kiku. Soon, you can fight along with us and we can all take down those bad guys together!' Feliciano puffed out his chest and cheeks, raising his arms in a mock flex. 'The Unstoppable Three; Lampo, Mastiff, and introducing, Ninja Man!'

'Feli, I am glad that you are not the one in charge of picking out names for people here.'

"I thought Ninja Man was cool…'

He chuckled then at his own innocence and jokes, and even how he still sort of thought it would have worked out if Kiku had ended up going with the instead of Kusanagi. He got the cultural importance and respected Kiku for choosing a valiant name but still, Ninja Man might have worked.

Feliciano blinked open his eyes once more, letting the memory fade despite his want to clutch onto it. He told himself to let it go for now, that it had served its purpose of momentary comfort. He looked for another thought, another memory of something good to remember. His eyes flicked behind closed eyelids, as though he could see the next memory to occur float behind them. Maybe of the first time he met Ludwig, which had been a whirlwind he would neve-

"Feliciano, mio prezio."

He immediately reopened his eyes and gripped the sheets on his sides once more, breath picking up again into a sporadic rhythm. That shouldn't be a memory, no, no, no. He usually had nightmares on his own, causing a strong connection to sleeping with Ludwig even before they had come to the full realization a few years back over their true feelings. But they never stuck in his mind- maybe a few pieces of the dreams would sprout here and there. Yet, this one left an impression in his mind. An image- a mother long lost in the real world but yet one that seemed so real in his dreams. And every night it would resurface right when he had calmed down, filled him with more dread and sadness that it almost made him drown again.

Drowning, that was what it was. Drowning. He hadn't found the right word till just then.

Ever since he got back from Algeria the nightmares have haunted his head. Since night one when he passed out heavily on Ludwig's chest, he woke up screaming and scrambling on top of his partner, panicked and afraid of what he saw and the guilt that took over his system immediately looking at Ludwig's face. Yet even after 3 weeks, soon to be a month, the word to describe his feelings had never surfaced till then.

Drowning.

Breath by breath at a time.

Restlessness made him flip to his side, and stare for longingly at the wall like it would yield a different result than the ceiling had. Arthur tried to provide some telekinetic solution, but no matter what they did the nightmares came back. Arthur immediately put him on a break from all League duty and told him that the leader himself would do some exams and research regarding his condition. That included poking around in his head a bit. The idea didn't worry him because he trusted Arthur to not go into his memories or look in too deep, but the proposition made Francis visibly bristle. Feliciano had tried to ask him why but the Frenchman only shook his head. Francis told him not to worry over his own superstition that had come with his increasing age, and that Feliciano should just go get some rest. Feliciano wanted to rebuttal he was only 33 and was hardly old but was not given a chance when Arthur had agreed and rushed him back to Ludwig's and his shared dorm. The Italian didn't miss the glare he gave Francis. But something told him that asking Arthur why once more would only yield no results.

Feliciano rubbed his eyes tiredly and thanked the fucking God out there that the image did not come back when his eyes closed shut once more. He sounded like Lovino more every day with the lack of sleep, his cursing having gone up from 0% to an all-time high of 50% likelihood in every sentence formulated in his head. His brother would have been so proud of him, if he wasn't in Spain with Antonio, living a happy life with tomatoes and no scary flashbacks of their Mother. Their dead Mother who he-

Felciano shivered and avoided the word. It wasn't his fault. He couldn't do anything to stop that truck. Ludwig had forgiven him for the accident, firmly stating that he did not blame Feliciano for the amnesia that had stolen the childhood he and Ludwig had shared. His Mother would have too if she was here, another thing Ludwig had assured him of. There was no reason to blame himself for this. Yet, his logic was drowned out by the guilt and tension in his chest and stomach.

Guilt. So much guilt. It was drowning him.

A knock made him jump and Ludwig sheepishly retracted his arm from the door. "Verzeihung."

"No, you're fine. Wonderful. Fantastic even." Feliciano sat up and gently grabbed the water glass offered to him before taking a shaky sip. Ludwig slipped back under the covers with him and carefully placed the glass onto the bedside table after Feliciano gave it back, not mentioning how Feliciano had just spat the water back in after letting it pool for a few seconds in his mouth. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah- I think so. I don't see her when I close my eyes anymore." Arthur had asked him to describe the dream, hoping it would help connect back to what caused these nightmares, and Ludwig had been there for emotional support. There was no point in being specific- he was thankful he didn't have to speak her name out loud.

Ludwig nodded before he opened his arms slightly, inviting him with soft eyes in that the Italian knew only a select few could see. It made him feel that insufferable guilt and he had to look away before climbing into his arms. Ludwig gently laid them down, and Feliciano settled with his head resting on one of Ludwig's biceps, eyes even with the German's. Fingers carded lazily through his hair and he hummed his appreciation. The appreciation was not just for the gentle rub at his head but for everything. He was always amazed by how strong Ludwig really was, and how he constantly kept the Italian stable It made him feel like he often didn't do enough for Ludwig, yet as the German always reassured him he did too much for words to describe.

Warmth flooded his system bringing on a wave of tiredness. Yet the pull for sleep only made him tense slightly. "Ludwig...I'm going to fall asleep if you keep doing that." He murmured as the fingers began to scratch lightly at his scalp.

"You should try again." He insisted and as much as Feliciano wanted to comment he kept it in. He found often he held his tongue nowadays.

"I don't think I can." He murmured quietly, as his voice strained a bit at the end. Yet, he closed his eyes at the thought and persistence from Ludwig's end. The German was a stubborn man and often did not yield even for Feliciano. It was something he found admirable. The past tense told his displeasure of it now.

"Ludwig please I just-" He was shushed before pulled in slightly tighter as Ludwig shifted till he was resting on the other's chest, and an arm slung across his waist. Feliciano frowned and was about to push up off of his chest before words filtered out of Ludwig's mouth.

"O wie wohl ist mir am, Abend. Mir am Abend, wenn zur Ruh' die." Ludwig was singing. A deep sound that filtered through his ears. The occurrence so rare as it is, but now more than ever he had not been expecting it.

The lullaby continued and Feliciano felt his eyes flutter close once more and his body go lax. Damn him, he thought bitterly, but it came out soft around the edges, in a teasing manner. Or somewhat teasing. He still felt anger at being treated like a child. Yet, he knew why and knew for all reasons, they needed to take these...attacks slowly. That as much as Feliciano wanted to put them aside he couldn't. He had to face this.

As the words started to drone out into just the melody, and as Feliciano gave up his fight, the image flickered back. No immediate panic set in, only the creeping tension. His mother peered over her shoulder, eyes hidden by thick pieces of hair so similar to his own. Yet he felt as though he could actually see them, staring him down with an empty look akin to that of a blind man.. A hat and dress sat on her lap, costumes he remembered playing dress up with Ludwig in when they were younger, fresh and new. She smiled, yet it looked so wrong she felt malicious. The tree she sat in looked over a pasture, where a sky washed out in a light pink reminded him painfully of Kiku's cherry blossom tree growing in the base's garden. Despite the light, a moon hung heavy in the sky, overlooking them with a watchful eye. And almost like his nightmare took it as a request, it split open into an emerald iris, all harsh tones and accusing glares. Feliciano felt the tension smolder into fear, but felt as though even if wanted to wake up, there was no chance of him escaping this once again for the night.

The voice filtered out, but it was not of a woman, of even of a childish boy that sometimes would guest star in place of the hat It was a man, accent thick against his ears.

"Ah, Feliciano, maybe this time you won't wake up."

It added in laughter, and the green eye closed back into a pearly white moon. His mother turned to him and embraced him with open arms. She giggled into his ear, and Feliciano felt as though each little hitch of laughter sent a pint of water guzzling into his lungs.

He was drowning, drowning, and he made no move to break the surface or to swim away.

Did I forget to mention that this prologue might be considerably darker than the other two stories? I mean I know Suspension and Fear was angsty as all hell but now, now my readers, we get into the plot.

My bad for not mentioning that in the beginning.

Translations-

Mio figlio, vieni qui- My son, come here

Mio prezio- My precious

Verzeihung- I'm sorry

A Little note on the hero names, Lampo roughly translates to a flash of lightning, Mastiff, of course, has one of the strongest bites ever out of all the dogs and of course is German, and Kusanagi is a sword in Japanese mythology that symbolizes the merit of having courage or bravery.

Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed, and reviews are always welcomed!