Originally written for Ninjavember Day 3.

It was about two in the morning, and Randy could hear to the sound of ruffling sheets.

He didn't react right away. It could have been a false alarm; maybe Julian was just restless tonight. It had happened before. Randy decided to dismiss it for now; he wouldn't want to wake up his boyfriend for no real reason.

Then he heard the sound that had always alarmed him; the whimpering.

He sat up and turned on the lamp on the bedside table to the lowest setting. The dim light gave him a better view of his boyfriend, frantically tossing and turning as he made small, distressed groans.

Randy lightly grasped Julian's shoulder and shook him gently. "Julian, wake up," he said softly. "C'mon, babe, you need to wake up. It's just a dream."

It took a moment, but soon Julian's eyes shot open as he gasped shakily. He sprung up and started looking around the dark room in a panic.

"T-Tyler!" he cried out. "Tyler, where are you?!" His hands patted every bit of the bed he could reach, searching for the texture of his floating rock, thrown off by the feeling of soft fabric.

"Julian! Jewel, look at me!" Randy desperately grabbed a hold of him by the shoulders and tried to hold him steady. "You're not there anymore; you're here with me. You're okay. It's okay now."

Julian trembled as he fully came to his senses. "R-Randall?"

Randy nodded.

"I…Was it a dream?"

"Yeah, it was." He pulled his lover into a tight, protective embrace.

Julian sighed, nuzzling against his boyfriend's shoulder. "I am so sorry about the disturbance. It just…It felt so real…"

"Shh, it's okay, Jewel. I understand." Randy ran his fingers through Julian's hair, which had been grown out significantly since ninth grade.

A lot had changed in the five years since that time, when Randy put all of his effort in defending Norrisville High from the Sorcerer and McFist, and when Julian was trapped in the Land of Shadows. That span of time was the most eventful for them both, as well as the most traumatic.

To this day, Julian refused to give a full story of what exactly he experienced in the Land of Shadows. Randy didn't mind that at all; the mere concept of spending months of isolation in a dimension where the Sorceress and other fearsome creatures dwelled was enough to understand why he was having frequent nightmares.

"Randall?"

"Yeah?"

"Did I scream at all?"

"No." Randy was grateful that he managed to wake his boyfriend up before the nightmare progressed to the stage where he started screaming or crying. Randy hated seeing him in that state, and he wanted to prevent it any way he could.

"So I suppose that means you were already awake when you realized I was in distress?"

"Uh…" Randy pulled away, shifting back to his side of the bed. "Okay, yeah, I was. But…But…"

Julian looked worried. "Randall…"

"Y'know, we should get to sleep already. We both got classes tomorrow and-"

"Randall. Did you have a nightmare too?"

Randy was caught off guard. He had found himself plagued by nightmares too; typically, they took the form of unpleasant memories of his past struggles. But the absolute worst dreams were about people dying because he couldn't Destank a monster or defeat a robot in time; it was an occurrence that thankfully never happened but he always dreaded. Those were the nights he found himself waking up screaming or crying, needing Julian to comfort him.

Randy looked away from him. "Y-Yeah, but it wasn't that bad this time; the way I reacted didn't even wake you up. I'll probably forget all about by morning."

"But you're still wide awake from it."

"Look, I really don't want to talk about it. I don't even have a right to talk about it; anything that happened to me while I was the Ninja is literally nothing compared to what you went through."

Julian sighed heavily. "Randall, I have said this before and I will say it again; the severity of our traumas is irrelevant now. Your experience is just as valid as mine."

"But you literally went through Hell."

"Being charged with the responsibility of protecting hundreds of lives alone sounds like Hell. Especially when Howard's utter lack of support is taken into account."

Randy tensed up. He looked down at the wrinkled sheets. "Yeah, I guess it does."

Julian lay down on the bed, his arms open. "Come here, love."

Randy looked at him for a second before laying with him and taking him up on his offer. He let him peck him on the lips and hold him close. He buried his face in the crook of his neck; he didn't like the fact that the one who just had a nightmare was doing the comforting right now, but he still relished in the affection.

"You deserved so much better," Julian whispered, tracing meaningless patterns on Randy's back.

"So did you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They were silent after that, laying still, swaddled in each other's warmth. They found sleep soon enough, and they slumbered peacefully until dawn's light kissed them awake.

They both knew there would be more bad dreams in the future, but they accepted it. Deep scars remained from what the suffered from years ago, and it was likely that they would never fade, but that was okay. They understood each other's suffering, and as long as they stayed together as they healed, everything would be okay.