DISCLAIMER: xxxHolic belongs to CLAMP.

"I cannot stay here, I cannot leave,
Just like all I've loved, I'm make-believe.
Imagined heart, I disappear.

Seems no one will appear here to make me real.
" -AFI, "This Time Imperfect"

-- Save Me From Drowning In My Dreams --

"Am I human? Am I even real?" Watanuki asked. "Or do I only exist in dreams?"

"No, whatever else you've become since then, you were born human," Yuko reassured him.

He was very glad to hear that. But there was one more thing he'd been wondering about lately...

"Yuko-san, do you have a wish?" He saw that she was surprised by the question and he smiled. "it's just that you're always granting everyone else's wishes and I was wondering if there was anything you wished for? If it's anything I can do, I'd like to try and grant it for you."

She smiled sadly and wrapped him a hug.

"My wish..." she whispered in his ear. "Wake up."

The dream dissolved and Watanuki found himself lying in the bed at the shop, with Yuko-san curled up next to him. As he watched, her eyes fluttered open and she caught him staring at her.

"You're awake," she said softly, reaching out her hand. Her long fingers brushed across his cheek. "See, you're real," she murmered. Then her hand dropped as she drifted back to sleep.

She woke me up just for that? Watanuki wondered incredulously. But I guess it was important to her... And then she went straight back to sleep. Well, it's just like her to do something like that, I guess.

"Yuko-san..." he sighed, settling down next to her. He didn't want to go back to sleep quite yet, but he knew he would be safe when he went back to the world of dreams because she was here watching over him.

-end-

A/N: Reviews are love.