It only makes sense, Mako thinks, that her nightmares now involved water.
Before the fight on the floor of the ocean, she would often dread falling asleep at night and then opening her eyes to find herself lost in the middle of a dark maze. She would stumble along, dragging her palms along the walls as she searched for a way out. But no matter which direction she took, she would never find the exit. Would never lose the hulking shape barely visible in the shadows stalking after her.
She used to think that nothing could be worse than that, the feeling that her heart would tear itself out of her chest from sheer panic, the too-slow movements of her body as she fought to stay ahead of the thing chasing her.
How she wishes that were still true.
Sleep now plunges her into water so murky that she can't even see her hands in front of her face. And she's not alone. Terror seeps into her bones as she senses something swimming toward her. Try as she might, she can't move. And when she screams water rushes into her lungs, suffocating her.
Mako wakes up coughing so hard that she almost vomits.
She takes care to hide the evidence of her restless nights but her fatigue eventually gets the better of her. On the practice mats, her movements are slow. Sluggish. Lacking their usual precision.
And someone notices immediately.
"How much sleep are you getting?" Raleigh asks one afternoon after he sends her crashing to floor for the tenth time in a row.
Mako takes a moment before responding and chooses her words carefully. "Enough."
He shoots her a look of exasperated disbelief, clearly annoyed by her evasiveness. "Doesn't look like it."
She shakes her head. "I'm fine," she begins to say in her defense but her denial dies in her throat when he places a hand over her shoulder.
"I'm your partner. Which means you gotta trust me a little, yeah?"
She discovers that it's difficult to say no to Raleigh when he's being earnest. Reluctantly she agrees to let him camp out in her room that night.
"I'm not a child," she says a little sulkily as she tugs the blanket over her.
The grin Raleigh gives her sets off a fluttering sensation inside her (she'll think about it later, when she's alone). "This is what friends do, Mako. Help each other. So let me."
Seeing that he won't be dissuaded from his plan, she gives in, laying down her head and shutting her eyes.
Once more Mako finds herself submerged under cold, dark water. She flails about wildly, a scream building in her chest, when her hand brushes against something warm.
The environment around her suddenly shifts. She's now on the surface, nothing but endless clear blue water around her. Waves lap at her gently. It feels soothing. Comforting.
Much like the weight of his fingers intertwined with hers.
And for the first time in weeks Mako dreams.