Nightmares

Poppy heard an anguished scream and sat up on her bed, eyes wide in alarm. Darkness met her sight and for a moment she wondered if she had dreamed it.

Quiet sobs were heard again and the drowsiness from sleep was kicked away as she pushed the blankets aside. Nearly breaking the bedroom's door open, the queen stole a quick glance at the clock on the wall.

1am. It was that time again.

Poppy opened Branch's bedroom's door carefully. She could see his outline in the darkness. A soft light was barely enough to spot him. First, she needed to make sure he wasn't already awake, so she peeked.

It seemed he wasn't.

His hands were moving up, trying to grasp something from his dream. He whispered incomprehensible words for they were muffed with the uncontrollable sobs she came to know in the past days.

"Don't." Poppy opened the door fully so she could step inside. He muttered shattered words that gave her an idea of what he was dreaming about. "Need you. Don't go. Stay. St'y."

"I'm here." The queen said in a soothing voice like the previous times.

He had insisted she stayed in her bedroom before saying goodnight. Branch was aware the nightmares could keep her awake and he was ashamed to be having them once again. The unspoken comfort to know she was near him was good enough.

Little did he know that the previous times he had unpleasant dreams Poppy had slipped out of her bed to hold him until he was calm again. She returned to her bedroom before he realized she had helped him. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass him with things he wasn't ready to talk about.

And the queen knew he dreamed about her dying. His childhood's trauma found a way to come back and replace the horrid memories of his grandma's departure with her own, thanks to that bleak universe he had seen.

"I'm never leaving you, Branch."

Carefully not to wake him up, the pink girl sat down next to him, placing a hand on his back.

It was just like the other times.

He tensed at first, then slowly relaxed, subconsciously recognizing her touch. And her hand moved up, carefully caressing his cheek, wiping away the tears that kept running down his face.

Branch turned towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and laying his head on her lap like he was on the edge of a waterfall and she was everything that kept him alive.

"We're both alive and well. It's just a dream." She whispered into his ear and he nodded, still in deep sleep.

Digging her fingers in his hair, Poppy caressed him while untangling a few strands. He wasn't as careful with his hair as she wished.

The color of his hair was so beautiful. It was a shame it was kept a mystery for more than twenty years. She would never get tired of such dark blue.

Sometimes, when he wasn't looking, she would contemplate his colors. Underground, his hair would be nearly black, almost like he had been most of his life. But there was a special light during the afternoon that made his strands look cerulean blue and her heart melted like ice cream in the oven.

His true colors took her breath away.

Finally, Branch was breathing deeply again. The strength of his hold grew weak enough for her to slip out of his embrace without waking him up.

The survivalist turned on his back and snored loudly, causing Poppy to put a hand on her mouth to avoid giggling.

The blankets were realigned and the queen tiptoed out his bedroom, closing the door behind her.

The clock marked it was half past 2am. She would be incredibly tired the next day, but it was worth it.

Branch was worth it.