Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea for this one shot. Characters belong to SquareEnix.
Hold Me
She jerked awake as Cloud's ragged breaths hit her ears. Slowly, she reached up, pulled the long chain down, and let the lamp give light to fill the space between their beds. She leaned up onto her elbows, pushing her hair from her tired eyes as she watched him toss and turn. His face was scrunched up and he was whimpering softly under his breath. She couldn't make out everything but at that moment, she was sure she heard him whisper 'mother' in a soft, pleading tone, followed by a cry before he sat bolt upright, eyes wide and chest heaving as he panted. His spiky blonde hair was lying limp against his forehead due to the cold sweat that covered his body. Aeris remained silent as she continued to watch him wipe his forehead before holding his cheeks in his hands.
"Cloud?" she whispered softly, noticing the way he tensed at the sound of his name and took a breath before he turned to her. He frowned as he noticed the light was on, bathing Aeris in its glow.
"How long have you been awake?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. She gave a small shrug and a half smile before she answered.
"Just a couple of minutes,"
"Did you…?" he began but stopped as he saw her give a gently nod, followed by a sigh.
"Oh," he muttered, covering his eyes with his hands. She could tell he was embarrassed by his nightmares, that he saw it as weakness but Aeris could not think of any way to comfort him. When she was little, her mother used to hug her and tell her it was going to be all right. Perhaps that was all that Cloud needed too.
She looked across at his form, laying still on the bed with his back to her and she could hear his soft breathing indicating that he had fallen back to sleep again. She sighed and hoped that this time; he would have a peaceful slumber.
It didn't happen though.
Soon, he was crying out again and moving around, his arms and legs flaying in every direction as he tossed and turned. Carefully, she pulled back the blankets to her bed and stepped onto the cold wooden floor. As she stood up, she pulled the chain on her light again, letting the darkness fall across the room. Then she slowly made her way across to Cloud's bed, placing both hands on the edge to help guide her before she hoisted herself up to lie beside him. She gently encircled her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder, trying to ignore the strands of hair that tickled her cheek but eventually had no choice but to move her hand to brush them back out of the way.
She slowly moved her other hand away to gently clasp his hand in hers. The other remained on his head, soothingly stroking the rough strands.
"It's okay Cloud, I'm here," she soothed, relief filling her as she felt him cease his struggles and calm down, his breathing slowing to a regular rhythm.
"I'm always here," she whispered before she succumbed to her own, thankfully peaceful, dreams.