Hm...I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, do not fear! I've not forgotten you! I've been working on my new big fic (it'll be coming online shortly, a few weeks maybe :D). I've been busy with summerschool, and though I have it tomorrow (or is it today...hm...) anyway, I decided to write this because I'm high on caffine (yes it really is a drug, so technically I'm high on it), from the Dr Pepper I should not have had at 11:30 PM ;D. Anyway, not beta'd cuz I wanted to post it now, and also cuz (BTW, I know 'cuz' isn't a real word...I'm too lazy to write 'because', which I've just done...anyway) AJ hasn't talked to me in months! Grrrr! So yeah, forgive typo's...you can point them out, but don't be too harsh about it. Um...yeah...so ..ok, yeah this story...Oneshot I'm pretty sure...yeah...

Shizuru woke with a start. Her russet hair was tumbled over her face, and she parted it, in order to open her eyes enough to squint at the alarm clock. Her eyes were bleary, and for a moment she could not make out the fuzzy numbers. After a few blinks, she managed to decipher them.

3:07 AM

She sighed. She had not had the particular dream that had awoken her this evening for months; she had thought perhaps her subconscious was ready to let it go. Apparently she was wrong.

As she shifted her weight slightly, the movement made her aware of the firm arms wrapped around her. The soft, warm skin of the woman she loved holding her was enough to make her relax, and she realized the dream had left her very tense, but no longer.

It was funny, she thought, that her lover was holding her so tightly like this; usually it was the other way around, as she held on for dear life as they flew across the pavement on the motorcycle that meant as much to the cobalt haired goddess as Shizuru herself.

While Shizuru lay there, relaxed again, but still unable to return to sleep, her mind wandered back to the dream. It had once been a horrid nightmare, but the years had reduced it to another unpleasant memory. The Carnival. The one time she had lost herself, swept away by madness for love. She knew the memories of what happened would haunt her forever, though they lessened after time, and the beauty beside her would never be able to fully comprehend how she felt, no matter how she tried to explain it, but that was alright. Shizuru knew she understood as much as she ever would, and was always there to hold her tight, and that was enough.

The arms around her were fairly loose; loose enough that Shizuru could shift all the way around to face her love. She snuggled close, putting her face in the crook of her loves neck. It amazed her how so many people would never fit with their loved one like this; lying so close, with every curve melding perfectly together, as if they were one. She sighed into the navy hair, then, as she breathed in, she inhaled the sweet scent that she loved so much. She felt the rise and fall of her beloved's chest, and listened as every few breaths a small snore was released into the quiet room.

The moment was shattered as another haunting image from her past appeared before her. She felt herself gasp, and she shifted away slightly, leaving a small amount of space between them, yet still connected by the arms wrapped around her. She stared up into the darkness and the image seemed to come out of it. Before her, those deep green eyes, the hurt, the one memory from the whole Carnival that would never be washed clean by time, could never be repaired. A single, small, unwanted tear escaped her at the memory. She hastily wiped it away; that's all it was, a memory. As she turned back to her love, she sensed a change. The snores no longer broke the silence. She looked up into the now open eyes of her love.

"You okay, Shizuru?" The mumbled words tumbled out of her sleepy companion.

"Yes," Shizuru smiled, "Everything's great, go back to sleep." Her heart skipped a beat as her smile was returned on the soft lips she loved.

"Okay, but I'm here if you need me." A soft kiss lasted a few moments, then a slight shifting of weight, and those eyes looked at her one last time before sleep, "I love you Shizuru."

"I love you too." Shizuru said, looking into the deep chocolate eyes of the woman she loved.