Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I'd be hella lot richer than I am now.

Author's Note: Inspired by an "OTP angst prompt" on Tumblr.

Setting: Post-canon, post-marriage.

Words: 742

Rated: K+

Enjoy! Please leave a review! ^.^

Comfort

Inuyasha jerked awake at the sound of his wife whimpering quietly. Instantly, he swept his arms about her and pulled her close, rubbing circles on her back, gently murmuring her name over and over until her beautiful, tear-filled eyes opened at last.

"Ohhh, Inu-Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. Trembling, she buried her face against her husband's chest, as he continued soothing her.

"Another nightmare?" he asked softly, almost afraid to ask, worried it would only make her more upset. When she nodded but didn't react in any negative sense, he dared to ask: "Wanna tell me about it?"

"I– I was back in the meidou. It was so, so dark, and I had no way of escaping and you c-couldn't find me. You didn't come for me, Inuyasha!" Kagome wailed and clutched her husband's shirt.

"But I did, beloved," Inuyasha whispered, ignoring the stabbing pain in his heart at the thought, the very concept of Kagome being abandoned in that awful place. "I will always be there to protect you. Even if you have to wait awhile," he added apologetically.

Kagome hiccuped. "B-but in my dream…"

Inuyasha growled impatiently. He sharply lifted Kagome's chin up so she was facing him and gripped her shoulders. "Listen to me, wench!" His old nickname for her startled just enough to get her to pay attention. Good. "Dreams are dreams. They are not real, and they never happened. You are not in the meidou, I did not fail to rescue you, and you. Are. Safe! Understand? Damn it all, wench, stop crying!"

He shook her frame ever so slightly, partly to bring his point across, and partly because he was suddenly furious at himself for being so utterly helpless against this invisible enemy. His blood boiled with irrational anger over his inability to fight away the monsters haunting his beloved wife.

As he hoped, his sudden, harsh demand shocked Kagome out of her hysteria. And instantly replaced it with offence. "There's no need to yell at me, stupid!" she shouted, her brow creased in confused fury. "I was scared and half-asleep, so why would you–"

"Because I can't help you when you're like this, Kagome!" Inuyasha burst out. He instantly flushed bright red. A few years ago, it would have taken a much longer conversation (possibly even stretched out over days of brooding and grumbling) for him to admit to something like that. But their distance apart and their recent marriage tore down the remainder of his walls. More or less. Embarrassed, Inuyasha released Kagome's body and rolled over on his side.

Kagome stared at her husband's back, stunned speechless. Slowly, tentatively, she inched closer. "You… you want to help me in my dreams?" she asked timidly.

"Help you, fight them off, I dunno, woman!" Inuyasha barked. "Anything so you can sleep better. You really," he added more gently, "you really scare me when you're in pain and I can't help you. I feel so weak and pathetic."

"Inuyasha," Kagome breathed, her heart skipping a beat.

"So, do you feel better?" Inuyasha asked brusquely, rolling back over and sitting up, with his arms and legs crossed.

Kagome nodded, smiling and rubbed her face with the back of her hand. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms scooped her up and she was in Inuyasha's lap.

"Dammit, woman, I made you cry, let me," he said gruffly, but his touch was exceptionally tender as he wiped away her tears.

"The dream made me cry, Inuyasha, not you!" Kagome said, half-laughingly.

"Maybe. But I made you wait for three days in that darkness." Inuyasha's voice became hoarse. "I took far too long to find you. And you still have nightmares about it, even after all these years." His thumb paused, trembling against her cheek.

Kagome gripped his hand and kissed the palm. "But you did come for me. That's why the nightmare was so scary. I dreamed that you didn't and that truly would have been the worst thing possible at that time. But you did. You rescued me then just as you rescued me now from my terrible memories." She pressed her forehead against his own, and nuzzled their noses together.

Inuyasha didn't know what to say to that, so he did the most natural thing to come to mind. He kissed her. And kissed her more and more, until all thoughts of dreams and nightmares and painful memories vanished from both of their minds.