Chapter 5: Nightmare's Interlude

Dream sequence –

Rei turned in circles as he absorbed the darkness surrounding him. No matter which way he turned, he saw nothing but shadows, dark figures that just stood around him, mocking him. Suddenly, he heard voices all around him. He tried covering his ears but he still heard the voices inside his head.

"Look at him, so weak, so useless. Just leave him"

"Don't bother sticking around, No one wants you"

"They don't like you, they pity you."

Rei shook his head back and forth, trying to escape the voices. Nothing seemed to help. They surrounded and suffocated him.

"Just give up, no one wants you here."

"No one wants you anywhere. You're just a burden on everyone."

"All you do is cause trouble for those around you."

"You'll bring trouble here too, just wait."

"All you do is cause pain. You'll hurt everyone around you at some point."

Tears made their way down Rei's cheeks as he took in all the different voices. "No, please, just leave me be. I don't want to cause others pain. I don't want to be a burden. Please, just leave me alone." Rei pulled his hands away from his ears and looked down at them in anguish. As he looked at his arms, he saw small scars everywhere. "I'd take all the pain myself if it meant saving everyone else. I don't mean to hurt those around me."

"Rei, don't do this. We're you're friends. No one else matters but you and your friends."

Rei looked up at the mysterious voice only to find no one there. "Who are you? Where are you?"

"I'm here Rei. We all are. Don't do this to yourself."

Rei simply curled in on himself and continued crying as he was once again bombarded with hurtful words. "Please, someone help me. I feel so lost. I don't want it to hurt anymore. I don't want this. Someone please find me."

"No one cares for you."

"You're lost forever. Why not end it now?"

"No one is coming for you so why don't you just put yourself out of your own misery."

Rei's crying turned into full sobbing. "NO, I don't want this. I don't want this."

End Dream sequence-

"NO!" Rei screamed as he bolted up from his makeshift bed. Slowly he began to take in his surroundings and realized he was at the house in Russia. As he calmed down, he breathing slowed and he also realized he was soaked in a cold sweat. He brushed his hair away from his face and rubbed his hand down his face, wiping away the tears that had run down his cheeks. It took him awhile to notice the falcon behind him rubbing his back.

"Rei? Are you alright? It was just a dream." Bryan continued rubbing Rei's back in a soothing manner, not receiving an answer. He was pulled roughly from his sleep when Rei had suddenly bolted away from him. He glanced out the window to see that it was somewhere close to dawn. He looked over at Kai and Tala to see them looking at him with worried expressions. He decided the only thing that would put them all at ease would be to get Rei talking. "Rei? I need you to calm down and answer me. It was just a bad dream. Are you ok?" He noticed Rei's breathing had slowed down to a more normal pace.

The tiger simply nodded, not even turning around or trusting his own voice. Bryan looked back at Kai and Tala as they nodded and headed to the kitchen for coffee and tea. They knew no one would be going back to sleep. Bryan simply picked Rei up and set him on the oversized couch. Not once did Rei attempt to uncurl himself. Bryan frowned as the tiger stayed in his own ball. "Rei, I need you to look at me. I need to know you're alright. It looks like that nightmare spooked you pretty bad. Just look at me and let me know you're alright. If it'll help, you can tell me what happened but you don't have to."

The tiger whimpered as he looked up at his friend. Suddenly all the pain from the dream came back to him and he threw himself at the falcon. "I don't want to hurt anyone else. I don't mean to cause problems for everyone. I don't want to be a burden, just don't leave me. I don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to feel that pain anymore."

Tala and Kai chose that point to come back to the living area with a tray of coffee and tea for everyone. Kai set his tray on the end table and sat behind Rei. "Rei, no one is going to leave you alone. I promise. You won't be hurt anymore. You won't be on your own anymore. We're here for you, always."

Rei looked up from his place in Bryan's arms and sniffled. Kai held his arms out to Rei and let the kitten curl against him as Bryan and Tala rearranged the blankets and pillows on the floor. "Rei, tiger, what happened in your dream? I think it might help to talk about it."

Rei shook his head against the phoenix's chest. "I just felt all alone. I heard voices all around me yelling at me and condemning me. Everyone hated me and they were leaving me. They told me I was just a burden to everyone. I swear Kai; I don't want to burden anyone."

"Rei, Hey, calm down. You're not a burden to anyone. We invited you here. Remember that. If it was going to be a burden, we would have found another way to help you. You aren't hurting anyone here." Kai looked up as Tala tapped his shoulder and nodded down at the new arrangement. He then slid himself and the tiger back onto the floor into the mass of pillows and blankets. He coaxed Rei to lay down with him in the middle. Bryan lay with his head resting on Kai's hip and an arm wrapped around Rei's waist as Tala slid behind Rei to wrap an arm over him and Kai.

Tala whispered comfortingly into Rei's ear as Kai stroked the loose hair behind Rei's ear. "It's alright Rei. We're here now. No one is going to hurt you and you aren't going to hurt any of us.

The four sat there for some time until Kai noticed that Rei had drifted off into a dreamless sleep. He tapped Bryan on the shoulder and motioned for him and Tala to help him slip from underneath the tiger. Bryan stood and helped Tala up from his position. He then gently lifted the tiger from Kai's arms. Rei's arms immediately made their way around Bryan's neck as he moved to place the tiger back in a more comfortable spot on the couch.

"Let him sleep a little longer. It looked like that dream got to him pretty bad. I can't imagine he got that much good sleep last night." Tala whispered as he grabbed a blanket to place over the sleeping tiger.

As Bryan eased the tiger onto the couch and attempted to stand, Rei's grip around his neck tightened and he tried to shift closer. "Don't leave me alone." The sleeping tiger mumbled in his sleep. Bryan stood still for a moment before kneeling before the couch. He brushed Rei's bangs from his face as he contemplated how to escape the tiger's hold with a startled expression.

Kai smiled at the falcon. Bryan cared about Rei, certainly. But he was still new to his own emotions and probably wasn't sure how exactly to handle this situation. "It's ok Bryan. I'll slide in behind him and he should let go and shift closer to me. I'll just lay with him and watch television while he sleeps." Bryan nodded as Kai slid onto the couch and behind Rei. As expected, the younger one eased his grip around Bryan's neck as Kai slid an arm around his waist. Rei slowly turned over to curl himself into Kai's chest. Bryan gave one last lingering look to the tiger before he joined Tala to clean the rest of the previous nights mess from the living area.

Tala leaned over and placed to television remote within reach for Kai. "He'll be ok Kai. We'll help him through this. He's probably just really depressed, so his emotions are sending him on a rollercoaster ride right now. He just needs to let things balance out and find his own place again."

Kai looked up at his lover and smiled. Tala leaned over the back of the couch to place a tender kiss to the phoenix's lips. Kai ran his fingers through the tiger's hair as he settled in for his small rest.

Tala smiled as he watched the interaction. He only hoped Rei would pull out of his depression before he sank too far into it. If he fell much further it would be difficult to pull him out without much damage.

Dream Sequence-

Rei groaned as he slowly stirred in the darkness once again. This time he was a little more reassured. He didn't know why, but he felt more comfortable about himself, safer. It was easier to block out the surrounding voices this time.

"They'll forget you in time."

"They don't really care. They'll wait to get what they want."

"They're only using you for their own purposes."

Rei stood in defiance against the voices around him. "No, you're wrong. They do care about me. I know they do. They're my friends, my family. I won't listen to you anymore."

"Rei, come back to us. Come back to me. Find your way from the darkness, love."

Rei turned in circles, trying to find the warm voice. "Where are you? Who are you? Help me."

"Find your way Rei. You have to. Please." The voice began to drift away into the distance.

Rei started running through the darkness in the general direction he thought the voice had come from. "NO, don't leave me. Don't leave me alone. Come back. Whoever you are, please, help me find my way."

"I can't help you Rei. You have to help yourself. You can do it. You can find me." The voice was very faint before it disappeared all together.

Rei fell to his knees, exhausted from his sprint. "I'll try. I have to try. I'll find you, I promise."

The darkness seemed to completely surround him once again as it began to overtake his vision.

-End Dream sequence-

Kai shifted more towards the back of the couch as Rei slowly stirred awake. He smiled down at the slender Chinese as his eyes fluttered open.

"Mmm, Kai? When did I end up on the couch? Where did Bryan and Tala go? Last I remember was dozing off watching the movie last night."

Kai gently brushed loose hair behind the tiger's ear. "You had a nightmare early this morning, don't you remember?"

Rei simply shook his head negatively.

Kai slid his free arm down Rei's side to rest across his hips. "You had a nightmare this morning and woke up scared. Bryan calmed you down some and you fell back to sleep, so we settled you up here on the couch to sleep more comfortably. You mumbled in your sleep, asking us not to leave you alone, so I settled up here with you. Tala and Bryan cleaned up the mess from last night and you kept sleeping."

Rei snuggled into Kai's chest and closed his eyes again as the phoenix tightened his hold on the tiger. "Thank you Kai. You guys didn't have to, but thank you. It means a lot that you guys watched over me. Where are Tala and Bryan? I'll have to thank them later as well."

"We're right here, Kitten. It's nothing. That's what friends are for."

Rei turned onto his back to see Bryan looked at him from one of the other chairs. On the other side of the room he spotted Tala in another chair.

"Are you feeling better Rei? We didn't want to wake you. We thought it would be better for you to get a little more sleep. You looked like you were sleeping better."

Rei smiled at Tala's concerned frown. "I'm fine Tala. It was just a nightmare. I don't even remember waking up, honestly. But I do feel much better this morning than I did last night. Thank you for staying with me. I don't think I could have taken sleeping in my room by myself last night. The dreams probably would have been worse if I had."

Kai sat up and helped Rei sit up beside him. Tala made his way over to the couch to sit on Rei's other side, folding Rei within his arms as he did so. "Any time you need it. If you don't want to sleep in your room by yourself, you don't have to. Just pick another bed and crawl in. This house is yours now as well. If you need company through the night, all three of us are here for you."

Rei smiled and laughed quietly. "Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'd be so lost if I had stayed in China. I don't know what to say."

Bryan watched the three wrapped in each others arms on the couch. Living all three of these friends was going to do wonders for his emotional state. He was slowly opening back up to his own emotions and learning how to deal with them once again. He had felt like he was on an emotional rollercoaster this morning when Rei had jerked away from him. It had taken him a little while to sift through all the emotions that had gone through his heart and mind. Things were slowly sinking in for him though and he was happy that Rei had slept more peacefully the second time around. It was like a weight had been lifted from his heart to see the tiger smile after waking the second time. Hopefully this would begin the healing process for the wounded tiger.