A/N: Not much to say about this chapter except it moves things along a little bit and at least it's an update. I'm trying to get this story finished, and it's not wanting to get finished. But it WILL, I WILL finish it! Eventually...

Chapter 14

Things settled down for about a month. Filia continued to make her pottery, and began to get better at it, all the while fighting insomnia. She had begun to force herself to stay awake, for when she fell asleep, she was haunted by those terrible images. She would rather lose sleep.

She also hadn't seen him very often. Once in awhile he would drop by, but he would be gone for days at a time. It was odd behavior for him, she thought, and even when he was around, the insults and teasing was at a minimum. She often found herself gazing out of a window or staring off into space, wondering what he was up to. And of course she would shake her head and go on once she realized what she was doing.

For awhile, after the incident with the sword of light, Filia had come to realize that she was dealing with something bigger than she could comprehend, and she began to quit fighting the denial. The dreams were real, she wasn't crazy, at least not yet, and she could deal with the dreams in the meantime. That is, until Val began to have his own dreams.

She was sitting at the kitchen table one morning before dawn. It was normal now for her to lose sleep due to the nightmares, and while she was cranky and irritable, she was able to control her moods. She had a cup of tea in one hand and a muffin in the other, and dropped both when Val burst through the door, crying and sobbing uncontrollably.

Ignoring the shattered glass, Filia ran to him and he clung to her in a vice grip, shaking terribly. "Val, what's wrong, sweetheart?"

He didn't answer, only continued to wail loudly. It wasn't long before Jacob and George came barrelling down the stairs in their pajamas, their faces worried and alarmed.

"Young Val, is he alright?" Jacob questioned. Filia nodded, stroking her son's hair to soothe him. The young men stared at Val, troubled.

"What happened to him?"

"I'm not sure," she answered. "He hasn't said, but whatever it was scared him to death."

"Poor tyke," Jacob whispered. "We'll fix his breakfast for him."

Val's tremors and tears had begun to subside, and Filia coaxed him off the floor to sit in her lap. She continued smoothing his hair, until he decided he was ready to talk.

"I had a bad dream, Mama."

Filia's heart clenched. No...not Val, too. "What happened in your dream, Val?"

He took a deep, shaky breath and sighed. "I was on a hill, by myself. It was dark, and there was a dark cloud above me. Swirling. It was cold and the wind was blowing my hair in my face and I couldn't see. I called for you but you weren't there. Then...a voice said something. I couldn't recognize the voice but I know I've heard it before."

"Do you remember what it said?" Filia asked.

"No."

"Is that all that happened?"

"No. All of a sudden I was in the air and there were people below me. I think...they wanted to kill me."

Filia gasped. "Why would they want to kill you, Val?"

"I don't know. But they were looking at me and they were scared. I was scared, too, but I felt something else. I felt mad. So mad, Mama, and I don't even know why. And then I saw you. You were there. And you...you..."

"What, Val? Tell me."

"You were bleeding. Then I...looked at my hands. Only they weren't my hands, they were...they were like big claws. And they had blood on them. I hurt you and I didn't mean to, Mama, I didn't mean to, I promise! Mama, I promise!"

Val started wailing again and clung to her like she was going to disappear. She held him, her mind reeling with what he had just told her. Where would he have come up with such a tale? Surely a little boy would not dream such things!

Filia refused to believe the nightmares would plague her son. They won't come back, she thought. This is because the tension is so high in this house and because he knows I've been having them. He senses that something is wrong and it's his fears acting themselves out in his sleep.

But she couldn't quite convince herself.

That evening as she and the boys prepared dinner, she happened to look out of the window and recognized that familiar dark shape wandering around underneath the trees. He caught her eye and motioned for her to come outside. She excused herself, saying she needed to go for a short walk.

"What did you do to Val?" she said angrily, pointing a finger at him as she stormed toward him. He raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I've done anything to young Val?" he asked.

"Because he had a nightmare last night. He was terrified, saying he had claws and there was blood on them. Did you or did you not put those gruesome images in his head?"

She watched as a shadow passed over his face before it was replaced by genuine concern. "Claws and blood? That's pretty odd for a young boy to dream of. Does he read much? Perhaps a book he read put those images in his head."

"I'm sure he doesn't have any books like that!" she retorted.

"How do you know?"

"Because I buy all of his books!"

"You might have bought a bad one by mistake."

She groaned. "I just want to know if you've talked to Val by any chance. I'm very worried about him. I don't want him to start having nightmares, either."

"I can assure you I have not been talking to Val about blood and claws, at least."

She eyed him warily, wishing she could read his thoughts at that moment. He seemed more distant than ever. "Where have you been, anyway?"

He grinned broadly. "Missed me, have you?"

She blushed. "Not at all. I just wonder who you're off tormenting when you're not here."

"Some poor, unfortunate wench."

She grimaced. "How appropriate for you."

He smirked. "And how appropriate of you to believe me."

"Why would I care where you went?"

"How should I know? You're the one who asked."

Her blush deepened. She was getting infuriated by then. Why did it seem like he always came back with something she couldn't refute?

"Oh for goodness sake, I give up!" she cried, and turned to go back into the house.

"Am I invited to dinner?"

"No!"

Two nights later, after the rest of the household was in bed, Filia tried desperately to stay awake. She could feel her exhaustion fighting her every second, and she could barely keep her eyes open as she tried to read. The dim light from her gas lantern didn't help.

She always lost the battle in the end, but she still fought. She did not want to see what tonight's nightmare had in store for her.

Val had had another nightmare the previous night, and that one had been more gruesome than the first. He had screamed at the top of his lungs during the night, scaring her out of her own nightmare. She had tripped going down the stairs, nearly plunging down them and cracking her skull open, but managed to catch herself and make it to Val's room in one piece. The boy was still screaming by the time she got there, and had curled himself into a ball on the floor. He would not talk about his nightmare this time, though it was clear it was more disturbing than the other.

Filia felt as though she were going mad. She wondered if perhaps she and Val didn't have some sort of disease that caused these dreadful nightmares, because she couldn't explain it otherwise. Nothing she did helped. She had taken Val to the village doctor, who told her to try some home remedies that he'd been taught and oh, they worked wonderful for him. But did they do anything for Val, or herself? She had tried them, as well, and that hadn't made a bit of difference.

She felt her eyelids closing again and fought to keep them open. She practically had to hold them open herself. She was so tired, and wanted nothing more than to just lay her head down and slip into peaceful oblivion...

"Wake up, Filia."

She let out a strangled cry, or a half of one once she realized who'd spoken out of the darkness. She frowned as he seemed to emerge from the shadows to sit next to her on the sofa.

"What do you want?"

"Touché. Really I'm starting to feel very unwanted. Here I am, to help you stay awake, and you give me such treatment."

"I don't need your help?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Before I showed up you were about to fall asleep."

"No I wasn't," she argued, but ended the reply with a yawn. He smirked, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Not very ladylike, Filia," he said, grinning. "What book are you reading? I daresay most people look at the book while they're reading, not stare into space."

"I was thinking."

"About Val's nightmares?"

"What else would I be thinking about?"

"Me, of course."

She snorted. "Not likely."

She was silent a moment before she asked, "Do you think his nightmares are connected to mine?"

"Do you think they are?"

"No, at least I hope not. I don't want him to go through what I've been through with them."

"What has he dreamed?"

"Of strange things. Darkness. People trying to kill him. And about having claws and hurting me and others. He wouldn't tell me about this last nightmare."

"Odd for a child to dream such things."

"Of course it's odd. Val would never hurt anything, and I don't know why he would dream of people trying to kill him. Unless he feels threatened by something, but I don't know what it would be."

"It must just be a phase."

"I hope."

They were silent for a few moments before he saw she was nodding off again. He sighed and took the book away from her. She looked up, her eyes questioning.

"I think it's time for you to give up," he said.

She shook her head groggily. "No. I can't have another one. Just one night."

But she didn't protest when he pulled her down to where her head rested on his thigh. She didn't protest when he took the quilt from the back of the sofa and covered her with it. And he didn't protest when his hand began undoing the pins in her hair and smoothed the long, blond curls absent-mindedly.

She did, however, glance up at him with half-asleep eyes and mumbled, "What's wrong with you? You're not supposed to be like this."

"Am I not?" he asked.

"Mmm mmm."

"Just what am I supposed to be?" he whispered.

She sighed and shifted her weight to be more comfortable and murmured something he didn't understand before she began to snore softly. He continued smoothing her hair, wondering what he was doing.

Had he completely gone mad? It would appear that way. He wasn't doing her any good by being there, yet he wondered if perhaps he could grant her one night's peaceful rest.

He placed one hand on her forehead and closed his eyes, whispering words he had not uttered in a long time. A faint glow formed around the palm of his hand, and she stirred slightly under his touch but did not open her eyes. Finally the glow faded and he continued smoothing her hair once more to soothe her.

"Rest well, for once."

Filia awoke to the first light of dawn, alone. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, feeling stiff and sore, and almost voiced her complaint when she realized that she had slept the night through...with no nightmares.