AN: Hey, this story has gotten really depressing and angst-y, so to lighten things up a bit, here's a dream sequence of Kurama's. It's not very concrete; it's more of an abstract experience to portray the intensity of feeling rather than the solidity of reality.

Chapter Five: Dreaming of You

The world is hazy here. You're everything, you're sunlight and rain, and you're on me. You're inside of me. We beat as one, together, our hearts entwined.

Your fingers on my skin, I swear I'll never love another. You're so little and so perfect in my arms. The curtains blow in the breeze from the window, sweeping over our palette on the hardwood floor. This open room stretches on forever, and I am suffocating on the air. It's thick with whispers and promises.

You'll never leave.

I know now.

But can you blame me for my fear, fire child? Forgive me for expecting you to burn us both to ash.

You've fallen asleep in my arms and I watch your chest rise and fall steadily, your face candid. Your eyelashes lay across your cheeks like butterflies, soft and sleeping. I could lay here forever and never let you go, if you promised to always stay.

You're awake now and we're running, and I'm barefoot. The forest smells green all around us. You laugh and I tease, and there is no hostility, no fear or anger here.

Now we're underwater and next we're flying. I can't keep you still but I have kept you with me. And I know, quietly, that much time has passed and there is no doubt that we have overcome our trepidation.

It's raining and the sky is gray but the world is warm and you're in my arms. I have a sense of home, as though I'd been searching forever for this very spot. Water drops cling to your eyelashes as you look up at me through your bangs. We share a kiss that shakes me, and I tighten my grip on you. I can feel us falling, and I'm not afraid because I know wherever I land, I'll be with you.

I awoke to the sounds of a silent house. I was stiff from sleeping on the hard tile floor of the bathroom, and I let out a groan as I shifted onto my side. Standing slowly, I stretched and glanced at myself in the mirror. Dark circles had formed under my eyes from the constant emotional strain of the past few days. I'd never been so high up and so far down in such a short period of time. I was exhausted. I leaned against the counter and ran my hands through my hair.

I'd begun to wonder if it was worth it; the moment of pleasure for the hours of pain. Would it continue like this forever? Would this be the basis of our entire relationship, on again-off again until its redundancy had become common and expected. There was the possibility that he was toying with me, yanking me back and forth to estimate just how much power he had over me. I'd given him too much.

I felt my heart sinking slowly. I turned from the mirror and left the bathroom, still rigid from sleeping on the floor.

Walking into my bedroom, I saw that it was morning, and that the window had been left open. My curtains blew in the gentle breeze and I was reminded of my dream. With a deep breath I walked to my window, closing it quietly. Then, for the first time I could remember, I locked it.