Vash opened his eyes and saw a deep, unwavering blue sky, the kind that was free of clouds. Things did waver, however, but they came in the form of red flower petals floating in the air. Immediately he associated this with Rem, and, already laying down on what was surely glassy ground, he sighed and waited for her to appear.
This went on a while. Then longer. And longer still. Vash sat up and looked around, seeing what he always saw here: cloudless blue sky and floating red flower petals. Yet no Rem. He considered shouting for her, but what good would that do? If she were anywhere nearby, she'd be seen. He considered panicking, then reconsidered on account of having no good reason. She'd appear. She always did. She would always be there for him.
Vash stood and looked at the ground. It wasn't glassy, really, but mirror-like. It perfectly reflected him, showing his reflection staring back at him with some incredulous expression upon his face. Both faces. One face.
A tangent roamed his mind. What if Rem was in the mirror image? But no, that was ridiculous, and when she appeared, he'd tell her, and she would laugh and call him a baby and smile and make him feel better anyway. Because that's what Rem did, and it always worked.
Always worked.
Always.
Vash peered at the sky again, vainly wishing her into immediate existence at his side. It didn't happen; he didn't expect it to. He could want it all he liked, but it wasn't going to happen.
Maybe she's not coming.
But that made no sense; he knew this was a dream, his dream! And in his dreams, in every last one of them, Rem was there. Always. Being a constant in his life and then not showing up one day made for a mildly unsettling mood.
But suddenly, laughter. Her laughter. Her.
He whirled around quite startled, but happily so. "Rem!" he gasped, his eyes roaming her to make sure she was really there (as real as his dreams could get), to further embed her image and overall presense into his mind. "Where have you been?"
Smiling gently as usual, she shrugged. "I didn't know I wasn't on time. Where you expecting me?"
He gaped. This just couldn't be. Could she possibly be implying that she had other things to do besides be the Rem of his dreams? That too made his mood shift, from mildly unsettled to quite disturbed now.
"Yes, I... But where were you, Rem? I don't understand."
Her smile faded, though the kindness present in her eyes did not.
"Vash, you really are a baby. Grow up." She came closer to him, mouthing something, and when she reached up to touch his face
his eyes snapped open again.
No.
Bed sheets tangled about his legs notified him of his dream. He had known it was a dream, he did. He had admitted it, but did this mean he had to accept it only as a dream?
I want it as reality. Reality. Reality, Rem!
Faintly, he thought he heard laughter in the back of his mind. He shook his head... then noticed something else.
The bed was wide enough for two people. Two people was what it had on it. And the other person slept on without being aware of Vash staring.
Meryl? Meryl?
She came closer to him, mouthing something, and when she reached up to touch his face
he turned his head away and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Rem," he whispered, a harsh sound in the midst of so much silence, "do you think I can grow up?"
Meryl stirred, turned over in her sleep, then quieted again. Vash tried to go to sleep and dream once more, but only succeeded on sleeping.
Somewhere, in another dream, laughter rose then fell as red flower petals floated under a cloudless blue sky.