A/N: This is a crossover story between Elektra and Bleach, based on events in the roleplaying game "Paradisa". Written for Blazey.
Father
They were back again.
Those nightmares that left her shaking and gasping for breath, clawing upwards into the darkness as though to fight an invisible foe. Dreams that left her awake, no matter how exhausted she was.
It didn't matter that this was another world, or that the past was far behind her now, these demons would never stop haunting her. Perhaps that was the best, this way she didn't forget what she was.
Monster.
Failure.
She's alone and small and scared, the swimming pool water cold in the night air as she treads water. Her muscles are seizing, cramping, her lungs finding it harder to suck in breath. But she has to stay, she has to make him proud and happy, so that he'll smile at her and everything will be alright... she'll know she's not a failure.
Blood... red and hot and cloying, sticking to her hands as she shakes her mother's lifeless body over and over. Wake up... please wake up, this smell of copper and the salty flavour of tears don't seem to match up with how it should be. She had been gentle and kind, she should be smiling so her mother didn't get anxious or worried. But the girl couldn't stop her tears, no matter how hard she tried, she was too weak.
Elektra. He had named her that so she would be strong, fierce, everything he had wanted in a child. But she failed his tests and showed weakness in affection and emotion, his slightly disapproving face all the punishment she needed to try and spur herself to do better.
He's dying... and she can't do anything, she can't save him. This is the ultimate failure, and as she watches her father's disappointed eyes glaze with death...
The nightmare ends as it always does, with her sitting bolt upright in her bed. Eyes wide and staring, breath sucked in as though to scream, but the sound died in her throat. Something is different.
She's not alone.
A kindly face surrounded by so much white hair, brown eyes almost invisible in the dark are still clearly showing affection, as he reaches out and gently pushes her back down. He doesn't need to explain why he's there, or how he knew she needed him, it is enough that he is with her.
Long cool fingers brush some hair from her brow, and she finds herself relaxing against her will, sleep lidding her eyes once more and sending her back into a darkness that was blessedly dreamless. A peace just from his presence she couldn't explain, a knot of tension loosening in her chest at the thought that this time she might not fail.
This time... she has already succeeded.