'When she cries at night
And she doesn't think that I can hear her
She tries to hide all the fear she feels inside
So I pray this time
I can be the man that she deserves
'Cause I die a little each time
When she cries'

He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept straight through the night. If he was honest with himself, it really didn't matter that much to him anymore. It wasn't regret that kept a proper rest just out of his grasp and it wasn't the uncertainty of the coming day.. it was her.

He'd known almost since the day he met her that she was hiding something, running from something. She never talked about it - just smiled, and grabbed his hand, and ran. Just once, she'd let down her guard and he could see the fear and pain wash over her features for the briefest of seconds. It was so quick, he almost thought he had imagined it. Weeks passed and he found it easy to forget when she would hold his hand and challenge him to take her to other worlds and other times.

He couldn't remember the exact night things changed. He had been slipping fitfully when the silence was broken by her cries from down the hall. At first, they were faint and he was tempted to pass it off as a simple dream. After he had listened to her for what seemed to be hours, he tossed his sheets aside and strode to her room. He watched her only long enough to see the tears on her cheeks before he knelt by her side. Intending to wake her and calm her down, he instead found himself reaching forward and brushing his lips to her cheek. Her eyelids had fluttered and her movements stilled but she made no indication that he had woken her... until he stood and turned to leave. She had grabbed his wrist and when he turned to look at her, the question hung unasked on his lips. What he saw in her eyes in that moment broke him. The mask that she wore so easily during the day was replaced by all of the pain and sadness that she kept locked away, and something he knew all too well... need.

He never asked her about her secrets, and he wasn't ashamed to admit that it was because he feared losing her. The nights had become a comforting, silent ritual. They would always start out alone, but it was never long before he could hear her. He would lay down in the bed beside her, hold her in his arms, and kiss away her tears. They never spoke, but he knew she wasn't sleeping. In the morning, before the light ever touched her face, he'd quietly remove himself from her bed and close the door behind him. He never could sleep after that. He'd just sit on the floor of his beloved ship with his back against the wall and his eyes closed, and think. He'd think about her secrets, he'd think about his past, and he'd think about their future. Most of all, he'd think about the fact that he loved her and he would give anything to be the man to make those dreams go away.

Song: 'When She Cries' by Restless Heart