Hello, guys. I'm just taking a quick little break from the other projects I'm working on to put out this oneshot. The other ones are in progress, and should be done pretty soon. ;) Anyway, this takes place before the beginning of season two, around the time of the flashback in episode 8 of Tenkai. A little depressing, but... I think it's going to turn out well. By the way, this was inspired by a fan art done by a Japanese fan artist called Mikki.

Note: The whole story is in Andropov's POV.

Disclaimer: If I owned Blue Dragon, all of Rogi's squad would still be alive. But, I don't, so... Rest in peace, guys.

Every time I dreamt, I saw Schneider; I kept seeing his death playing in my mind over and over...

I hadn't wanted to wake up, because waking up meant living. And I was tired of life.

Schneider... He had been such a close friend, and I hadn't even known it until he was gone. That was the worst part.

So many times I've wanted to talk to him since that day, wanted to tell him how much he meant to me. But I can't now; he's dead, and it's my fault.

"Andropov..."

I don't know how long I've been sleeping. I remember waking up a long time ago (or maybe a short while ago), right after the battle, and I felt this searing pain in my head. There were voices all around me, making it hurt worse with every word they said. I didn't know what they were saying; I felt it, rather. I also felt their hands pushing me down on whatever I was laying on.

And then, I thought I heard her voice, felt her grab my hand. For a few minutes, the pain went away. Until I fell asleep, and the nightmares began.

I've convinced myself now that she was a dream, an illusion created by my senses to dull the pain. The only reason the pain stopped was likely to be adrenaline.

"Andropov... Please, wake up..."

But... If she's a dream, why do I keep hearing her? My body is too weak to be falling back on endorphins now. So how could this be?

"I don't want you to die..."

A sniff, something wet on my hand; that can't be a dream.

With what little strength I have, I force my eyes open... And I'm still in darkness.

I cry out in agony; with a Shadow like Alfheim, seeing is everything to me. I don't want to live without my eyes.

Hands grab my shoulders, but they're much gentler than the ones that restrained me before; I know these hands. "Shh... It's okay. Tell me what's hurting."

I try to speak, but my mouth is dry, so I choke (I don't know why I didn't before); I feel something put in my hands. I take chance that it's a glass of water and move to drink it, by memory rather than sight.

"Better?"

I nod. "Yes." My voice is weak, but I still recognize it as my own.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't see." I can feel tears building. "Am... Am I blind?"

She takes my hand. "No. Your head's completely bandaged. It's just blocking your line of sight."

"So... When it comes off, I'll be able to see?"

"Yes."

I sigh in relief, for the gifts of my eyes and her. "Is... Is that really you, Kluke?"

When she speaks, I can hear the smile in her voice. "Yeah, it's me."

I don't know how long the bandage is on for, and I don't ask.

For however long it is, Kluke takes care of me. She feeds me (as embarrassing as it is) and reads to me. Through this, I learn two things: One, Kluke and I have similar preferences when it comes to books. Two, though I'd never have the heart to tell her, she's a horrible cook. Fortunately with the latter, she catches on and has another nurse cook my meals; I'm glad she's still feeding me the food, though I don't tell her that.

It takes a while to get used to, but even though I can't see, there's no more pain. There's no more darkness.

"Andropov!" I hear her footsteps fall on the ground hard, but her voice is cheerful.

"Did you find a good book today?" I ask her, trying to hide my excitement. "You sound like you're in an even better mood than usual."

"Andropov, the doctor said we could take the bandage off today." Her breath comes out in quick pants; she's been running for a while.

The news shocks me; I think I'm happy about it, or at least I should be. But... I don't know what to think. I've gotten so used to living like this. What will I do when it stops?

"Andropov...? What's wrong?"

"Well, it's just..." I reach for her, and I feel her take my hand. "I'm just a little surprised."

"Oh. Well, that's understandable," she squeezed it. "Unfortunately, you won't be able to go outside yet. It'll probably be just a little bit longer than it took for the bandage to come off."

I sighed. Kluke probably thought I was sad about not being able to go out, since she patted my hand with her free one. But it was actually one of relief.

It was probably wrong of me (to several degrees), but I wanted to stay sick, just so I could spend time with Kluke. If I stayed like that, she would never have to leave... In reality, I knew it couldn't be like that, though.

"Kluke... Will you take the bandages off?"

"Huh?"

"I don't want the doctors to do it. I know you won't hurt me." I grinned when I heard her squeak.

She cleared her throat. "I... I'll need to get permission first. One of the senior nurses was actually supposed to do it."

"I don't want them to do it, either."

"Alright. I'll be right back." Footsteps going away from me, then many coming back.

It took a little convincing. The doctor was a jerk, one of those physicians who believe their word is golden; I felt bad that Kluke had been working under a guy like that. When he had finally left after agreeing, I told her so.

"It's okay. He's the head doctor here, but the ones under him aren't like that. He gives everyone a hard time, actually."

I snorted. "I can't wait to get better just for that reason; once I can stand on my own two feet, I'll take you with me and we'll ditch this place."

"U-um..."

"Kluke?" I reached out; I found her face. "You're blushing."

"N-no I'm not! Come on, let's just get the bandage off. Before he comes back and changes his mind."

She was very careful taking it off; I could tell she was nervous, but her hands were sure and steady, moving with precision.

As she took off some of the wrapping near the lower part of my head, I felt my hair tickle my neck, something I hadn't felt in a long time; it must've grown, because it seems further down than it did before.

At first, when the light hit my eyes, I closed my eyes in pain. It was so bright... I wasn't used to it.

But, she was there, encouraging me to open them. I did... and I saw her.

It had been so long since I'd seen her... Kluke is so beautiful.

"I missed seeing your eyes." She says to me.

I smile back. "I missed seeing you."

Everything had seemed so dark... Until she showed me the light again.

Thank you, Kluke.

Well, I think I'll end it there. I was going to draw it out more, but I figured this was long enough. If someone really wants me to continue, I'll think about it, but you'll have to tell me what else you want; I couldn't think of anything else, otherwise I would've written more. Well... Review if you want. This is only supposed to be a oneshot (unless I get enough demands for a continuation), so I won't be able to reply to your reviews, but I would like to read what you think. Also, if anyone's interested, I'm planning a Daner x Xi oneshot in the very near future. So... See you around. :D