Shadows

The shadows were ganging up on him, Yuui thought, huddled under his covers. They were constantly growing in his empty room, multiplying and creeping closer and closer. Yuui whimpered, pulling his blanket over his head.

He wanted his mommy, but she had disappeared yesterday, and all he had seen was a bit of blood and his mommy's hand peeking out from around the corner before the servants had rushed him away.

Then again, his mommy was a girl and she was always sad on top of it, with great big black circles under her eyes and her pretty hair a tangled mess. No, Yuui decided, mommy would not be able to protect him.

Daddy might have, but an evil person the servants called 'illness' had apparently swept in and stolen Yuui's daddy right after he and Fay had been born.

Next Yuui thought of his uncle. His uncle was big and strong—he was taller than both Fay and Yuui if Fay put Yuui on his shoulders—and he was really good at magic. Fay and Yuui were good at magic too, but for some reason whenever Yuui used it his nanny smacked him. One time his nanny had hit him so many times that his vision had turned blurry. Fay had been crying, and he'd told his twin that maybe neither of them should use magic again. Being hit had hurt a lot, so Yuui had agreed.

That's it! Fay would protect him! Fay wasn't an adult, like his mommy and his uncle, but when Yuui was around him his heart felt warm and he was safe and protected.

Fay's room was all the way down the hall, but Yuui knew he could make it there before the shadows did if he ran really fast. Taking a deep breath and tensing in preparation, Yuui waited only a moment before he slid out of bed and ran out the door.

The hallway was long and dark and scary, and Yuui could tell that the shadows were surrounding him, so he refused to look anywhere except Fay's door. He pushed it open just as one particularly mean shadow crept towards him and slammed it behind him, leaping up into Fay's low bed.

"Yuui?" Fay asked, nearly suffocated by his twin's desperate hug.

Yuui ducked his head against Fay's chest and clung to him desperately.

"I don't want the shadows to get me," he explained.

Fay wrapped his short arms around Yuui as best he could and whispered so softly Yuui could barely hear it. "Don't worry, Yuui, I won't let the shadows get you. I'll protect you."

Fay's grip tightened on Yuui, and Yuui smiled against his twin.

"I'll protect you too Fay," he promised, snuggling his face against his twin. He could hear Fay's heartbeat under his ear. It was loud and steady and strong, and it beat in time with his own heart. It was because they were special, him and Fay. Nobody else in all of Celes had a connection like they did.

Sometimes he heard the servants whispering about them. They were born on the same day, they said. First Fay, and then Yuui, and it was unnatural, they said.

Fay laughed softly, settling into their brotherly embrace. "Yeah, we'll protect each other."

Yuui didn't care what they said. With Fay he felt warm and welcome and the shadows could never, ever reach him.