Read me a fairy tale, Leo! A nice one, with a happy ending!
He starts awake, fingernails scraping against the bedsheets. The windows have blown open, and a frost-filled draft sweeps through the room. From the gathering headache in his temple, he slowly realizes that it has been open for some time.
For some time, he collects his thoughts, gazing at the ceiling, before the gooseflesh on his arms remind him of the swinging window shutters. Finally, he musters enough grit to climb out of the warm den that was the four-poster canopied bed and into the chill of the chamber.
As he folds the clasp across the shutters, the gentle click echoing softly in the cavernous room, a sleepy voice calls out his name. "Leo…?"
"I'm right here, Sakura." Leo replies, pressing the shutters firmly to ensure that they won't blow open again. "Just closing the shutters."
"Oh, okay." Her rosy head emerges from her own plush pile of pillows, her eyes blinking owlishly in the dark. As he walks back to the bed, she studies him. "You look exhausted. Are you alright?" Her query is soft, and a little hesitant.
"…Just a dream." He doesn't look at her when he climbs back into the covers, taking care not to jostle here as he does so.
A small frown curves her lips downwards. "Is it the same one as before?"
"Am I that transparent?" It's meant to be teasing, but somehow the words come out bitter. Sakura's eyes fill with understanding, then sorrow. "Oh Leo."
He jerks the covers towards him in a pained motion. "I hear her voice, Sakura. Just like when we were children, poring over leather-bound books in the libraries. Asking me to read her fairy tales. It feels so real."
She slides closer to him, and Leo feels her hand tentatively encircle his own. He grips her fingers back. "It's starting to get to the point when I can't even hold Brynhildr without shaking anymore. I can't go to the libraries to fetch a book on war tactics. I'm the king of Nohr, Sakura! I'm not supposed to be like this! I can't even…I can't…"
"Shhh." Sakura's voice is sorrowful, but the hands cupping his jaw are steady. "Look at me, Leo. Right in my eyes."
He obeys her. It's still too dark to see much, but he can see the sweeping of her lashes when she blinks. "I can't say anything comforting." She admits quietly. "Compared to what you went through…I can't even hold a candle to it.
"But please; don't try to shoulder through this alone. I'm right here, at your side, wearing an onyx circlet just as heavy as yours. Please don't push me away."
Her hand guides his to rest over her stomach, just starting to swell with life. "The future, I can promise you, will be brighter than the past."
Sakura resumes stroking his jaw. "You don't have to read our child fairy tales if it pains you too much to do so. We can engage in other activities; walking along the river…making paper boats. Maybe even visiting Xander and Elise's graves to honor them and pay our respects."
The shaking is subsiding, until it's only minute tremors. His breaths steady, but the moment Sakura lets go of his arms Leo feels the terrors begin to prowl towards him again. "Sakura…!"
She yelps as he pulls her abruptly towards him; the kiss is desperate and pleading, and he's not sure if the muffled moan that fills the heavy silence is his or hers.
Please, please, be my anchor, the one thing that keeps my ship from twirling from the fragile harbor out into the tossing ocean. Be the stakes supporting the broken tree that is my wracked heart. Just….stay with me. Be the shutter that keeps out the storm.
When Leo lets her go with a gasp, her eyes are glassy, and there's a small droplet coursing down her cheek. Sakura entwines her arms around his neck, and he holds her close. They fall asleep.
Outside, the rain rattles the windows, the sound akin to that of nails tapping quietly, asking insistently for entrance.
But this time, the windows stay shut.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I just moved into my dormitory at college, and man has it been crazy. I hope you like this little one-shot, and remember, reviews and likes give me life.