I originally wrote this chapter for the earlier version of my story, but I thought it would still work in this version, as well, so I just made some changes, and here you go. It's rather short, but hey, as long as you guys enjoy reading it. And I sure hope you do.

Chapter 10: Nightmares

Terra was woken up sometime around midnight by the sound of yelling in the other room. The two of them had always gotten plenty of nightmares, and that was one of the few similarities they still had in common. She once believed, back when she was still little, that adults didn't get nightmares, until she found that Kefka got them about as often as she did, though he would never tell her what his were about, and she never pushed him. It really was just nice, not that she wanted him to get bad dreams, to have someone she could share her nightmares with that would truly understand.

It came as no surprise to her, however, that his nightmares had been getting worse and worse these past few years, and lately, she didn't know if he ever went more than a night or two without crying out in his sleep. And some nights, when he was particularly bad, she couldn't stop herself from sneaking into his room even when she wasn't supposed to just to make sure he was all right.

Of course, nothing was ever wrong, but it was hard to ignore him when he was making such a racket, and so, just as she had countless nights prior, she got out of bed, her nightgown doing nothing to protect her legs from the night's biting chill, but as she headed for the door to his room, she paused as she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

She had yet to wash off her makeup from that day, and it still clung to her face, now smudged on one side where she had been sleeping on it, which only served to make her appearance even more inhuman than before. Normally, he allowed her to take off her makeup once nighttime arrived, but he had gotten so angry at her today for sneezing and making him draw a line across her forehead, she hadn't dared wash it off even after he had left for bed. He got aggravated enough when she did this with his permission, and after she had forced him to reapply her makeup, she thought she shouldn't push her luck and take off all his hard work with him still around. She was just grateful he didn't hit her. She really thought he was going to, he had been so angry.

She took a short detour to dip a towel in the washbasin, and she wiped away what was left of her makeup before tiptoeing to Kefka's room, and even though it seemed his nightmare had at last come to an end, she crept inside, nevertheless, because, as strange as it would surely sound if anyone were to ever find out, sometimes she couldn't resist watching him as he slept. Despite finding him, more often than not, tangled up in his red, silk sheets, and despite all the groaning and yelling and thrashing he did when he was ensnared in one of his nightmares, he really was much less frightening when he was asleep. In fact, this was the only time he ever seemed human anymore because the makeup would eventually rub off and because it was okay to talk to yourself in your sleep. And at least his clothing wasn't nearly as wild as what he wore during the daytime, even with the poofy sleeves of his nightshirt and his mismatched socks.

When she arrived at his bedside, she found him sleeping on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow, and it was a wonder really that he didn't smother himself, and she flinched when he moved, just in case he was getting ready to wake up, though he never had yet. Kefka seemed to be a rather deep sleeper most of the time, except when children made noise too early in the morning, and he'd scream out the window at them to be quiet, but not in so many words. This didn't seem to be the case tonight, however, when he groaned and stretched one arm, and before she could escape, one eye popped open and locked onto her.

"What are you doing in here?" Kefka asked, with his words mumbled and flowing into one another.

"You…you were screaming in your sleep," she said, and she began to fidget under his gaze.

He squirmed about to get into a more comfortable position, going still again once he was on his side, and she found his makeup to be nearly gone, with just a red streak left under one eye. "Was I?"

She nodded.

He chuckled to himself as a smile spread across his face, an expression that was far less unsettling when his lips weren't red. "If you saw what went on inside my head, you'd scream, too." He giggled once more before the corners of his lips fell into a frown. "Go away," he said, before rolling onto his other side and putting his back to her.

Terra did as she was told, but she was unable to get back to sleep that night when her mind was too busy with questions of what exactly did go on inside his head, and she wondered, if it was enough to torment him with nightmares so, perhaps it was no wonder he had become the way he had.

Aren't you impressed with my creative chapter titles? And is my story getting depressing? Actually, it's been depressing for some time now, hasn't it? I think it's inevitable for such a topic, though, isn't it? Ahem, anyway, as always, please review.