This would be my first Ni No Kuni fanfic, and even if I, myself, do not own the game, I'm watching InTheLittleWood on YouTube play it and I am saving up for it myself. SwainexEsther was always a very nice little ship. I'm unsure if it has a ship name, but that would be fun xD

Hopefully this won't be very OOC, it may be a bit, very sorry~

Anyway, sorry for mistakes, enjoy!


Swaine tossed and turned in his bed, locked within a nightmare - luckily not the one like before. Oh no, this was far worse.

"Father..." He muttered, kicking at the hot covers over his body. "No, no, father!" He muttered louder, holding the sheets tightly, his hands slightly white. "Damn it!" He was mildly sure he yelled from his room in the Inn.

Swaine felt tears rolling down his cheeks. "Father... I just wanted to make you proud!" He growled out, the pain within his heart deep as he tried to win through his deathly raw dream. Remembering the feeling of life leaving him. "I'm sorry..."

His mind was hazy as he remembered the day in full detail in his nightmare, the sound of his brother crying, the place he sat. He could recall every little thing like it had just happened.

"Swaine..." He could also remember the voice of Esther, but this voice was too real to be from his dream, and he was pretty sure someone was shaking him.

But he felt locked within the past like a robin locked in a cage.

Kicking at his covers more, Swaine told his body to wake him, fighting through the battle in his mind to find the girl shaking him awake. "Swaine!" He heard her yell in his ear.

He whimpered, something he'd once done as a child and to this day, hated doing, showing how weak he was to these dreams of the past.

The dreams he'd been having for nights now, but no one had once bothered to wake him from them.

He tossed once again, feeling the covers being pulled away from him and at that minute he felt like he didn't want to wake up. He knew the voice and he knew she'd ask him what- "Gascon!"

His eyes shot open, tears still trailing down his cheeks. The image of a girl stood before him, the breeze from the window making his body cold. "Esther?" He whispered, trying to calm his breathing.

Swaine watched the girl, her hands on her hips as she glared at him slightly, but her gaze seemingly grew soft, almost mocking. "Are you not going to tell me why you were yelling? I'm next door you know." Esther said, rolling her eyes.

Swaine quickly dismissed what she said, if she heard him, she should know. "Are you going to tell me why you're in my room?" He asked, watching the girl with tearful, cloudy eyes, tears trails on his red cheeks.

"Are you going to put some clothes on?" Esther smirked, her eyes quickly going up and down his body as she handed his cover back to him, giggling slightly as she watched him quickly pull it around himself.

Swaine growled, trying to stop more blood flowing to his already scarlet cheeks. "Most men my age sleep in their pants you know." He muttered, rolling his eyes at her.

Esther's gaze was soft, the mocking replaced by a type of worry. "Well..." She seemed slightly uneasy as she parted her lips again. "Are you going to tell me how you got-"

"No." Swaine growled out, this time anger slowly making its way through his body, she'd been the one to pull away his cover, he didn't ask for it. "Go back to bed, you hear me, Esther! Go to your room!"

The girl turned without another word, her hands fitted neatly back on her hips, she walked from the room, swinging her hips like the girl he was.

And Swaine couldn't pull his eyes from her until the door was shut.

He felt a small tug at his heart as he recalled his own words. "Go back to bed, you hear me, Esther! Go to your room!" It made him anger to think of myself like that. He slightly wondered if he'd ever say that to a child of his own...

"No." He muttered, closing his eyes again and unlocking the gate to his nightmare once again.


"How did you sleep?" Oliver asked the next morning, Esther sat across from him, drinking a glass of water and eating an apple, something she'd only ever eaten once before in her life. Swaine sat next to her, gently sipping at his coffee, black around the eyes.

Esther spoke, her voice slightly sleepy, but she tried to sit up tall. "Well, but Swaine woke me up with all his yelling. Remind me to never get a room next to his."

"Do you think I wanted to have the same bloody nightmare I have every night? No one told you to come and wake me anyway." Swaine muttered under his breath, slightly hoping she hadn't heard.

But she had, Esther hears everything.

Her words hurt and he felt the colour light his pale cheeks. "No one told me not to, I wish I hadn't, the only thing you were wearing was your pants, and I really never want to see your body without your clothes on again."

Oliver let out a slight chuckle, trying to hide the smile twitching at his lips.

Swaine quickly rose to his feet. "Well? Are we leaving?" He asked, his hand drumming on the base of his gun.

Drippy jumped on the table. "Sure mun! We should move out anyway, right Ollie-boy?" The fairy said, smirking and jumping off the table.

"It would be so easy just to shoot that little..."

"Yes, come on, let's leave." Oliver agreed, picking up his things and quickly leaving the room with Drippy, watching Esther and Swaine as if wanting them to stay.

Good thing as well, because as soon as Oliver was out of the room, Swaine turned on Esther. "I cannot believe you!" He shouted. "You want to know where I get those scars, burns, cuts?" He asked, not waiting to hear what she had to say. "I got them from living 15-effing-years alone on the street!"

Esther glared back at him, her breathing uneven and tears seemed to form in her eyes. "Pull yourself together! You aren't the one who lives in a nightmare every night!" Swaine shouted, his gaze falling to the floor. "You aren't the one who is hated."

He felt the girl rush past him, her arm lightly hitting his. "You don't know anything about me!" She growled as Oliver slowly poked his head into the room, watching Esther run past him. "Let's go!"

Oliver blinked, looking over at Swaine once more before running quickly after the girl. "Come on, Swaine."


"Another Inn, another nightmare." Swaine muttered as he sat on his bed, running his hand through his messy hair, sighing as he pulled off his shirt, throwing it across the room.

Something was bothering him, but he had no idea what, the feel of the cloth under his scarred back was anything but calming, Esther had stayed away from him that day, talking to the fairy and Oliver if she needed to.

He let his mind dash across the world to his brother, tucked away in bed. Then he pointedly turned his head to the door, he could swear he heard someone a few rooms away.

Oliver and the fairy were a hall away, and as far as he knew, there were no other guests in this part.

But Esther that is.

Swaine slowly sat up, shaking the dizziness from his mind and swinging his legs over the bed, standing up and quickly unlocking his door, walking down the hall slowly to hear for anything.

The slight sound of muttering came from behind her door, he placed his ear over the door, wondering if Esther was alright, a worrying feeling tugging at his chest. "Swaine..."

That was his name, why was she saying his name?

"Esther..." He whispered anyway, tapping his foot gently.

The sound of sobbing was what got him next. "No... please, don't go." He heard the sound of her voice, and he gingerly pushed the door open, stepping in and closing it.

Esther's covers were tugged up around her, tossing and turning in her bed. Her hair was down and in a slight mess. "Esther?"

Swaine gently moved into the room until he was standing by her bed. "Swaine, no..." He raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was dreaming. "Please... please don't go."

Taken aback, he slowly started to untangle the covers from the girl, brushing some hair away from her face. "Esther?" He whispered, making a 'shh' like noise as she sobbed in her sleep.

"No! Swaine! Stop... please, no, do-don't leave me..."

"I'm not leaving you, I'm right here you silly girl."

Swaine knew she was within a dream, locked out from the real. "Wake up, come on, I'm not gone, I'm here, I'm sitting on your bed." He said, brushing some hair from her forehead and leaning down.

He gingerly placed a kiss upon her head, letting his lips trail down to her cheek. "I'm here, I'm not gone." Swaine had no idea what he was doing, what his body was doing. "Wake up, you silly girl." He muttered, his lips finding hers by mistakes.

What in the world was he doing, he gently moved his other to the other side of her body, not daring to break the kiss just yet.

Then he felt her kissing back.

Arms wrapped around his neck.

He broke the kiss to see Esther hugging him closely, the girl shaking with fear. "Never." She whispered, her gaze meeting his off-colour eyes.

"Never what?"

"Leave again."


I'm not sure what happened at the end, I'll most likely be writing more of these two as I find them cute, and next time they'll be better IC because I'll have a little more time!

- Dustily