Disclaimer: I don't own avatar…yet insert maniacal laughter

Chapter 6: Sweet Dreams.

Zuko sat beside the sleeping form of the girl. The last time he had been this close to a girl was when he was ten.

He remembered he was playing in the garden with General Something's daughter (He was only ten, names didn't mean much). They had been running around for hours trying to catch each other in the hot summer's day. Exhausted they had both collapsed under a shaded tree. He remembered the scent of the flowers as he drifted into a beautiful dream, with her at his side. The girl's father had waked them up. He had shouted for hours, forbidding them to play with each other again. Zuko had never understood why until Uncle Iroh gave him The Talk. The one involving " When a Mummy and a Daddy love each other very much". After that he had chosen to stay away from the opposite sex, inorder to avoid further embarrassment.

He was woken from the memory by a whisper.

"Please, let me go. I don't know where he is. I swear I don't. Please God, help me. I don't know"

Looking down he seen the girl. Her brows were drawn together into frown of pain. There were tears flowing freely down her face and the scar on her face was bleeding slightly. Frowning he got a wet cloth and began to wipe away the blood. That got impossible when she began to toss, turning, thrashing, scratching his arm with her claw-like nails.

When the screaming began, Zuko ran out the room and got Iroh. While in this Nightmare State the girl began to demolish anything wooden or stone, levitating and hurtling the object at the nearest person. This person nine times out of ten happened to be Zuko, who was know covered with minute bumps and bruises.

"Why is she doing this" Zuko yelled to Iroh over her screaming. Iroh was currently trying to hold down her thrashing right leg.

Zuko was holding down her hands, Iroh was struggling with her legs. They were doing this so that the doctor could shove a sleeping pill down her throat.

"My guess is that she went through such an ordeal today that she's having terrible nightmares. Or maybe her mind is trying to get itself inorder by reliving some of these dreadful memories. All I can say is that I really pity this girl. She has been through too much." Iroh shouted back to Zuko, before a foot in the stomach knocked the wind out of him.

"Prince, try and calm her down a bit"

"But she's sleeping. How can she here me?"

"Can you try it"

Zuko made an ugly face. He slowly bent his head down towards her ear.

"Sshh. It's ok. I'm here. I'll help you. I'll save you from this wicked man. I'll help you. It's ok. Don't worry. He won't hurt you anymore. I promise." Zuko whispered to the girl while slowly stroking her long black hair.

She began to stop. Her legs stopped kicking Iroh and her hands stopped trying to scratch Zuko's eyes out.

"Zuko, you couldn't have done that before?" Iroh gasped as he tried to regain his breath.

"I didn't know it would work" Zuko numbly muttered a reply.

"When she starts again just do that, talk to her in a calming tone. If that doesn't work get out of the room, if you value your life." The doctor told Zuko.

Then a weary Iroh and Doctor returned to their separate quarters. Zuko sat on the bed, his back against the wall. She was still talking but the words were a mere whisper in the night. It was going to be a long night.

It had started. The frown had returned. She was gasping for breath, tossing around, whimpering like a wounded animal. Tears were flowing in a steady stream. The nightmare had returned and so had her screaming.

"PLEASE HELP ME. I DON'T KNOW I SWEAR I DON'T KNOW. PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP ME"

Zuko carefully held her hand, it was freezing. It was like holding the hand of a statue not a troubled girl. Gently he blew hot air onto her hand. Her shouting quietened slightly but the tremor was building up in her, like an earthquake in the depths of her soul. As if a beast in side her was braking free of the cage. She was shaking violently. Zuko didn't know what to do. He tried to hold her down; she was so cold as if she wasn't a human but an ice sculpture.

I pulled her up so she was leaning on me, slouched over like a doll. Gently I put my arms round her freezing frame. I began to radiate heat, trying to calm her down. I began to whisper words again to her.

"It's Ok. I'm back. I'll protect you. I'll save you from this nightmare. I'll help you. I'll save you"

Eventually the words lost all meaning.

"I'll save you, I will save you, I will save you, I will save you"

They were a chant an incantation to stop the thing inside her breaking free. I held her like a child grips a teddy or blanket. Holding her to give comfort in a terrible night.

Slowly the screaming stopped and the splinters of shattered wood returned to the floor in a series of crashes. She lay still, her head on his bare chest. He could feel the damp where her tears had run. And the warm air from her mouth. Gently he laid her down. She was still talking but the words were an incoherent babble. Like a wild mountain stream, the words of the mountain spirits lost in the confusion of the crashing water.

"Please, help me don't know, please, help me don't know" she repeated the words in a steady rhythm under her breath barley audible. Finally her lips stopped moving, her features relaxed. There was a small smile on her face. At last she had escaped from the clutches of her memory. At last she was at peace.

"Sweet dreams" Zuko whispered, smoothing the sheet over her.

Zuko could feel himself slipping away. The tiredness was catching up like a savage predator hunting down an innocent deer. Now it was his turn to face the monster of his dreams.


Araic's dream

She could feel the slices of pain as the claw pierced her skin. The terror bolted in her like a freed bird, gathering height, launching her into a state of panic. They were crowding her. Uncle Bori was there, accompanied by his cronies. All of them armed with 'claw's. The evil looking Fire-bender was there surrounded by masked fire warriors.

She was restrained, tied to a tree. The tree was gnarled and it's jagged, arthritic fingers were raised to the stormy sky in a silent plea. There were two other figures tied to similar trees one on either side of her.

"Run my little one run" One dark figure raised it black head towards her.

She screamed, it only had a hole for mouth. It'd entire face was decomposing as she watched it. The voice was her father's but the face was wriggling with maggots and rotting flesh. She screamed again, trying to break loose but the bonds held her tight.

"Sshhh little one, stay still" The body on her left said in a breathless whisper.

Voice reminded her of her mother but this rotting corpse wasn't her Ma-a. This thing had worms for hair and eyeless sockets stared at her, sending a new wave of terror washing over her. Its long pointed fingernails reminded her of the claw.

Suddenly the two walking corpses were untied; they pointed their talon-like fingernails at her neck and began to slowly walk towards her. Followed by Bori and the Fire-warriors. They were coming closer and closer, raising their claws at her and began slashing the air as they came towards her. She tried to scream again but…

"Sshh. It's ok. I'm here. I'll help you. I'll save you from this wicked man. I'll help you. It's ok. Don't worry. He won't hurt you anymore. I promise" A voice behind her.

She had never heard this voice before, but it soothed her stopping the screaming. Her bonds were cut by the voice, she was free. Into the woods she fled. The voice, the quiet soothing murmur had saved her from these things. She disappeared into the woods, leaving the voice behind her.

It was peaceful in the woods; the flowers were in bloom. Their hypnotic scent lead her further in but the aroma was abruptly change to a sickly sweet stench that snuck into her throat. Making her gag and cough, trying to the horrid smell back up.

Araic dropped and hid behind the jagged purple bush that had appeared in front of her. The decaying corpse that had once been her mother stood a few feet in front of her. It was howling like a banshee. Then Bori brought in the mouldering remains that she had once called 'Daddy'.

The walking corpse of Araic's mother gave another banshee scream. Then the body that had been dragged in raised it's putrid, rotting head and gave what looked like a smile. Araic's rotting mother turned round towards her.

"Come out Araic, Come to your Mammy and Daddy. Come to us Araic. Come and join us" Araic could feel the animal inside her breaking free. She was returning to the state of panic. She could feel the tears of horror in her eyes, then the voice came again.

"It's Ok. I'm back. I'll protect you. I'll save you from this nightmare. I'll help you. I'll save you"

Suddenly the corpses in front of her erupted in a scream of red fire. But the fire had caught onto the trees. It was all around her now. Cutting off her air, strangling every last breath out of her. Burning her skin, cutting into her. She could feel the darkness edging in. This wasn't the soothing darkness; this darkness had teeth and claws. She didn't want to leave; she didn't want to die. She was slipping, she could feel herself going. Then amazingly the voice returned.

"I'll save you, I will save you, I will save you, I will save you"

This time a body accompanied the voice. Silhouetted against the burning forest she could only make out the gleaming golden eyes. The voice's body wasn't a decaying corpse or an evil fire-bender brandishing a 'claw' or a terrifying earth-bender shaking a club at her. It was a boy her age gently checking her pulse and her breathing.

"Please help me" She croaked

He was strong but gentle. He picked her up, she felt safe, away from the evils that had been there. Away from the traitors and the walking corpses. Away from the fire and into his strong safe arms.

She was slipping now, into the soft, sweet darkness. The darkness that rocked her to sleep. There was no pain in this darkness, no claws, no blades, no clubs, no fire, no decomposing corpses, only the soft darkness. There was sweet nothingness. A voice invaded the darkness. It was 'The Voice'

"Sweet dreams" The Voice whispered.

She smiled and returned to the rocking darkness.

I hope I managed this dream ok. I was trying to create one of those nightmares that you have. The ones were you try to force yourself to wake up from and when you do your shaking and totally terrified. You can't get back to sleep cause whenever you close your eye's you see whatever was after you. You sit there, in your bed for ages until you can't stay awake any longer, most of the time the dream doesn't return, but when it does it's normally twice as bad. I had one of those; it involved a half-dog, half-dinosaur species. Completely terrifying.