*~ I Don't Love You, I Can't Love You ~*
*~ Chapter 36 ~*
*~ The Nightmare ~*

They tossed and turned in their sleep. Neither of them could understand what was going on. Fire fell from the sky which was black with streaks of red and the ground, covered in ash and dead grass, seemed to fall away in to the deep dark abyss below them.

Taking the only pathways still a float the girls ran screaming trying to find someone to help them and keep them safe from harm.

Uma tripped on a mound of ash and fell, rolling landing with a hard thump on her back. As her focus pulled back she suddenly realised that a flaming ball of fire was falling fast. It's destination; her head.

Panic swept through her and her scream caught in her throat. But just as soon as she felt a flicker of the heat she was gone and now in the air watching the ball hit the ground where she once was. The fire splashed around the target and moments later the ground collapsed in on itself and deteriorated in to the abyss as well.

Uma turned to follow the arms that held her and found his pink eyes glowing while his face was shadowed. Her emotions caught in her throat. She was so happy to have found someone at last that she threw her arms around him wept in to his shoulder.

The other girl in this nightmare was Ichigo, Uma and Marley watched as she ran along her own pathway. But Uma suddenly realised that Ichigo's pathway was collapsing and running up close behind her.

"ICHIGO! RUN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Ichigo's eyes snapped up to them and the hope she felt surged through her at also finding a friend in all this chaos. She diverted her direction towards them and tried to pick up speed. But this was only to stop again as the ground five feet in front her dropped. Ichigo turned to go around and found that she was on a small temporarily floating island.

Ichigo's eyes searched desperately for an escape route but couldn't find any.

Just then a jolt of movement ran through her and her eyes widened as she realised the land was giving way. A few crackling sound followed as the ground crumpled beneath her and she began to fall, screaming.

"KISSHU!"

Uma buried her face in to Marley's shoulder not wanting to watch her friend fall to her death...but moments later she could hear heavy breathing beside them and she knew it wasn't silent Marley.

She turned to find Ichigo in the arms of Kish the green-haired alien from the café and he was holding her with so much care it was beautiful.

Uma watched as Ichigo's panicked breathing calmed and she slowly trailed her eyes up to his face. They smiled admiringly at each other, then Ichigo's hand moved to his cheek while his was already caressing hers.

"Uma-chan."

She looked back to him and saw he was looking up at the sky, Ichigo and Kish followed their eyes as well.

There was a giant white crack the shape of forked lightning stretched right across the sky. Then more cracks began to snap in to place and sooner than they realised the sky shattered in to a million pieces of glass falling towards them fast.

The girls screamed.

Uma shot upright with a scream. She breathed heavily and scanned her room.

A nightmare! It was just a nightmare.

She realised something was touching her hand.

She looked down and found Marley's concerned face looking up at her from where he sat on the ground next to her bed.

"Are you okay, Uma-chan?" he asked quietly.

"Were you checking on me?" she asked, ignoring his question.

He nodded and told her, "You screamed and sounded like you were scared," he then smirked with a soft laugh, "Keira's a heavy sleeper."

Uma didn't care much for that information, her mind was still trying to calm down from all the panic.

He came to make sure I was okay, she thought and felt tears prick the corners of her eyes, He thought I was scared and came to protect me.

"Uma-chan?" he asked just before Uma flung herself off the bed and in to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in to his chest.

Marley wrapped his arms around her in return and held her tightly as the sobs shook her.

"I was so scared," she cried, mumbling in to his clothes as the nightmare came back to her in a flash.

"Ssh, it's not real," he told her and stroked her back reassuringly, "You're safe now, I'm here."

"Ichigo? Ichigo! Calm down!" Kisshu hissed shaking her shoulders. He was trying to wake her from this obvious nightmare but he had to do it quietly as well, "Koneko-chan, you'll wake your parents and I'll have to leave."

Slowly her eyes opened and she stared at him in fear. Then everything clicked in to place as she realised she was awake and free of the nightmare. She grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him closer even though they were already laying down snuggled up together in bed.

"Kisshu," she sighed as one of his arms went around her, "I just had an awful dream. I think we all died at the end."

She shivered and so Kisshu held her tightly and kissed her forehead. She didn't object or seem to notice so he took that as acceptance and had a small internal victory dance. But Ichigo brought him back as she continued.

"The world was dying and I couldn't find anyone. I was about to give up when I saw that sweet girl Uma and she was being saved by another alien," she explained, "I think it was the one from before. What was his name?"

"Are you talking about Marley?" Kish asked uninterested in the mention of his acquaintance, he couldn't careless about him ever since he tried to meddle with his Ichigo.

"Yeah," Ichigo nodded, "He was saving Uma and then I fell in to this really deep chasm...and I thought I was going to die."

"But?" Kisshu asked, "What happened?"

Ichigo looked up in to his eyes, "You saved me."

There was a moment of tension between them where they just searched each other eyes and then Ichigo moved in and pressed her lips to his letting her eyes close.

He kissed her back and loved every second of it. It was maybe his favourite kiss as she was the one to initiate it and it lasted more than a quick peck of the lips. She was also more than willing it seemed as her hands ran up his body and ended up tangling in his hair, pulling and tugging deepening the kiss.

They spent the rest of the night locked together even more so than they had been at the start.

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