The staccato bursts of gunfire rang out again. Chara screamed. She tried to throw her hands up to protect her, but the body wouldn't respond.
You're hurting him! she screamed silently. Stop it! Stop! Please! You're killing him!
The distorted figures in front of her surged forward. In the distance she heard a roaring sound. She twisted herself in an attempt to get away from the fists and makeshift clubs descending on her. Someone was smothering her. She was dying. He was dying.
"Asriel!" she screamed and sobbed. As if at an infinite distance, she could hear his confused, anguished voice calling her name. "Asriel, stop them! Fight back! Or run! Just, just do something!"
"Chara!" he cried again. "Chara, what-?"
"Not like this!" she sobbed. Someone grabbed her. "This wasn't how it was supposed to be, Ree! It can't end like this! Not like this!"
She wailed in despair. Incomprehensibly, though she was now part of him, she saw her brother's soft face as if he was in front of her - not the distorted, warped creature he had become when he had absorbed her soul, but the innocent boy she had seen the moment before her eyes closed forever. Their shared body was shaking, writhing.
He despised her now - she knew that. She could see the loathing in his eyes. This was how it would end - her brother and dearest friend dying under the hail of bullets still cracking through the air, screaming her name in misery and hatred.
"Chara! Chara, please, wake up!"
Her body was shaken once again. Suddenly the universe flipped upside down and she flew up into a sitting position, gasping. Her hair was soaked with sweat, and her pounding heart felt like it was about to burst. The lamp next to her bed was on. Two furry paws that had been gently shaking her let go. As she sucked in great gulps of air, her wide-open eyes stared at her furry brother. Asriel! He was alive! He was alive and himself and in his blue pajamas with rocket ships and planets and he wasn't a deformed demon and he was alive and he was alive and...
...and his eyes. There was no loathing there. He didn't hate her. He was anxious and worried and saying things she wasn't listening to, but he was there, he was alive, he was there, Asriel was still alive…
"-heard you crying and you didn't answer my knock, so I just came in! Are you OK?"
"Ree". It was a croaking, desperate whisper, filled with longing and shame. She sighed heavily, shakily, and ran a hand over her damp forehead.
A clap of thunder made her jump again. The heavy, wind-driven rain pelted hard on the dark windows. She could hear the wind of the tropical storm roaring through the trees outside. She fumbled for her sheets, twisted and half on the floor. Asriel bent down and lifted them back onto the bed, as she shakily rearranged them on top of her. Then he sat on the comforter next to her.
"Another bad dream?"
"...yeah," Chara said, looking down at the blanket gripped in her hand.
"Was it... that one again?"
Chara said nothing for a moment. "The rain," she said, gesturing at the window. "It was so loud. It must have gotten in my head. It sounded like..."
She trailed off. Asriel said nothing, but gave a sympathetic sigh.
For a while, Chara said nothing, kneading the blanket between her hands. Asriel waited patiently. With her head down, Chara missed the appearance of another child at the door who looked at the two of them questioningly. Asriel gave him a small smile, and the boy at the door nodded in understanding and disappeared.
"I murdered you, Ree." Her voice was low and quiet.
A furry paw wrapped itself around her hand. "It was an accident. And I'm OK now. And so are you."
"No thanks to me. I've never done anything but hurt you."
"That's not true, Chara! You made a mistake, but you were my friend for years before that. And you're still my friend now. And you always will be."
"You ought to hate me, Ree." She lifted her head. Her crimson eyes were bright and wet. "Why won't you hate me? At least tell me that I'm an idiot."
Asriel shifted his legs onto the bed so he could face the slumped girl directly, looking at him despondently, awaiting condemnation. He took her other hand in his other paw.
"Chara Dreemurr. You made a mistake that got me killed. And it got you killed too. And that turned out to not be much fun. But it was worth being dead for a little while if that meant I got to have you in my family. I forgive you, and I am so happy you're my sister, and tomorrow we're going to go outside and get filthy and soaking wet in the rain and mud, and we're going to have a really fun time."
He leaned back. "How was that?"
The smallest smile crept on the girl's face. "You're an idiot, Ree."
The grin he shot back was much larger. "I love you, too!"
Chara rolled her eyes, but her smile spread. She pulled the covers around her and lay back down flat, making a big show of rearranging her position so she could conveniently kick her brother off the comforter. He obligingly slid off the bed.
The room flashed with light as another crack of thunder shook the room. Chara couldn't stop herself from flinching.
"Hey, Ree?"
The furry boy, who had turned to the window, looked back at her.
"Uh..."
He blinked at her. Chara struggled with her pride for a moment, but eventually slumped.
"Would... would you mind just sitting with me? For just a few minutes? I mean, I don't really need you to stay, and you don't have to, I know you're probably tired, so if you don't want to that's fine, I'll be fine, I just, you know... no, no, you know what? Never mind, it doesn't matter, you don't-"
"Sure, it's fine!" he chirped.
Another protest rose up in her, but she let it go. "T-thanks. It'll just be a couple of minutes, OK?"
Asriel dragged the bean bag chair from the corner over to the side of the bed. He settled himself so he could lean against the side of the bed. Chara reached over to her nightstand and switched the lamp off. Her door was partially open, and the nightlight in the hallway made a soft glow by the entrance.
She closed her eyes and relaxed, pulling the blanket up to her neck and laying her arms on top of it. Her bed shifted slightly as Asriel rearranged himself against the side of the bed.
The heavy rain began to taper off as the strength of the storm began to fade. Lighting flashed off in the distance with low rumbles.
"Thanks… Thanks for…"
Silence.
"Thanks for not giving up on me."
"I would never do that, Chara."
The sound of the rain pattering on the roof was soft, and the room was warm and safe.
"You're really great, Ree."
In the dark, a furry paw came to rest on top of her hand.
"I love you too, sis."
The girl was quiet. But a moment later, her hand wrapped itself around the paw.
The summer storm continued to churn overhead; the wind whistled through the trees and the rain beat on the house as the hours slipped by. But the five Dreemurrs slept peacefully through it all - four in their beds, one slumped against a mattress, snoring softly. All perfectly safe. All together. All home.
Thank you for reading!