Close to Heaven
By Bashfulglowfly
Jadeite bolted upright in bed.
He gasped for breath as he felt sweat trickle down his spine. He ran a shaking hand through his hair and found that it too was sweat soaked.
He looked down at his wife to make sure he hadn't woken her. The past few weeks had been hard as her body adjusted to the new life growing inside her and he didn't want to wake her with his own issues.
Jadeite carefully slid out of bed and walked to the door leading to their private balcony. The door slid quietly open at his approach. He stepped out into the moonless night and stared up at the stars.
He felt the sweat drying on his body in the coolness of the night and knew he'd have to shower before he went back to bed.
If he was actually able to go back to sleep.
It had been over a year since he'd had a nightmare about…her. He knew what triggered this one. The laughter of the daughter of the French Ambassador. His hands clenched on the balcony railing. Just thinking about it…
Jadeite breathed deeply. In then out. Just like he'd been taught. In then out. Let my mind empty and become clear again. In then out.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when a soft but warm hand touched his cooling flesh.
"Sorry." His wife murmured. Rei looked at him with her violet eyes and tucked herself under his arm. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"And I didn't mean to wake you."
"Hmm." Rei leaned against him and stared out across the dimly lit Palace grounds. Jadeite rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes. He relished having his arms around his loving and temperamental beauty. He was so lucky that she'd forgiven him before the Long Sleep. He knew that he, nor any of the Shitennou, would not have been able to keep their sanity if the Senshi had rejected them.
"It's been a while since you've had a bad dream." Rei twisted her head so she could look up at him. "Do you want to talk about it? What set it off?"
"The French Ambassador's daughter. Something about her laugh. It just…triggered me, I guess. But the dream was the same. Submitting to Beryl and becoming twisted and going against everything we'd ever been taught. Turning against Endymion and you. And everything that went with losing my honor."
"But you regained your honor." She pulled his head down and kissed him gently. "You have me, and you have Endymion and you've shown the world that you truly are the Knight of Patience and Harmony. Sworn to protect not only Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion but Earth and her sister planets."
Jadeite took a deep breath. "I know. It's just sometimes…"
"Things get remembered and they kick your ass?"
He laughed. "Yeah."
"Idiot." She tugged him back into their bedroom. "You're all sticky. You need a shower."
The door slid silently closed behind them as he cheerfully leered at her. "Join me?"
"Pervert."
Her laughter always told him that as long as he had her, he would always be far from Hell.