A/N: I couldn't believe it when I thought of the idea for this; I had just finished typing the first one. This one is a bit different though, on that note that the beginning of it is quite sad. But all is not what it seems.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and I make no profit from this.
"No!" Mashiro collapsed onto the dirt, her arms wrapping around the tombstone. Her husband was dead, and she was left alone. All alone. The rain was cold and it drenched her to the very core of her bones. No. No. This couldn't be happening. Lying down on the ground above where Kensei lay, she shivered and sobbed.
"Mashiro!" Kensei shook Mashiro as hard as he dared, which wasn't very. "Mashiro, damn it, wake up!"
Mashiro blinked, mid-sob and immediately clutched onto her husband, burying her face against his neck. "I thought you were dead!" She yelped, sobs breaking down into soft whimpers.
Kensei wasn't about to ask why she had thought that, he knew that her nightmares just happened sometimes, but he held her close. "Well, I'm not." He sighed softly, holding her closer. "I'm never going to leave you, Mashiro. So stop freaking out over stupid dreams."
It had to be a sign of how much she trusted him that Mashiro calmed with just those little words that weren't even spoken delicately. Snuggling close to him, Mashiro took long, shaky breaths.
"It's because of that time, isn't it?" Long ago, in their first stint in soul society, Kensei had gotten badly injured. It had been shortly after Mashiro had been appointed lieutenant, but when they had known each other for many, many years. Mashiro said nothing. Kensei didn't need an answer though, he knew. And he knew that her nightmares had become more frequent the longer they stayed in soul society. Still, he hadn't figured out how to stop them, just how to wake her and calm her down.
"Don't ever leave me." Mashiro said softly, and Kensei realized that she was falling asleep pressed against his chest. "Swear?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Kensei stroked her hair, despite his annoyed tone. While his tone lied through its teeth, his actions told the truth, he loved his woman more than life itself. Watching her fall asleep, he found his eyes slipping closed. He forced them open immediately. He was going to guard her from her bad dreams if it meant he didn't get a wink of sleep for his captain's meeting the next morning.
He'd done it before; he'd do it again.
A/N: This is kind of a softer, yet darker, version of Mashiro's bad dream in The Messes We Leave Behind, but still set after Buds and Bows. Anyway, what'd you think?
