One second she was sprawled limply across a past bed as her twin brother came inside her, and the next she was tangled in a damp sheet as that same twin brother's hands restrained her desperately.
"Aya! Aya, are you alright?"
Breathless, she parted her lips and stared up at him, her body still shaking, her thighs uncomfortably wet.
It was a dream.
...It was a dream, right?
His hands burned on her, his hold strong and tight with fear. She stared into his wide eyes in the dim room, watching them fill with relief, and worry.
"Aya, are you okay?"
She wanted to laugh, so instead she cried. She hung her head and fell right into deep, wracking sobs.
Again, in what was becoming a familiar gesture, he lunged forward, gathering her close in his arms and rocking her slightly.
"Shhh," he soothed desperately, lips moving in her hair, "It was a dream, Aya. Shh, just a dream..."
She clutched at his sleeves, his shoulders, her eyes stinging and a headache throbbing to life at the back of her skull. Because it was a dream, but she knew it wasn't a dream. Because she didn't know how to forget what she knew, knew she had to-because she couldn't lose him. Not now. Not ever.
Because she wondered...
Wondered if Ceres had known. If this was what she had been warning her about...
"Aya..." a soft, hesitant question, as if he wasn't sure that he even wanted to ask. "What happened?"
You seduced me, Aki. And I let you. it was all a dream, but I still...let you.
The urge to laugh was bubbling up again. Her fingers clenched in his shirt, wanting to somehow crawl into him and just...not be anymore.
She didn't really think she could talk, she didn't think her voice would work, but it did. With her forehead pressed against his shoulder, and her eyes staring wet and sightlessly, she spoke. "He was taking you away from me."
It just wasn't the whole truth.
"Who," he whispered, hands tightening, drawing her closer.
You.
"I don't know," she breathed, closing her eyes in pain.
"Aya," he pushed her back, just enough to wipe away her tears with the edge of his sleeve. "No one is going to take me away. I am never going to leave you."
Relief, so much relief, because she never wanted to live in a world without him. But unease, too. Because she could hear the deeper meaning to his words now. The inherent possibility. The inherent pledge.
She could feel his hands on her, gentle and firm, restrained hope, subtle possession. She could feel them heating on her skin like brands.
But she still couldn't push him away.
TBC...