A little something that struck me while working like a madwoman. Why does the muse always come at moments like this? Who knows. *shrugs*
This is like a sequel to "Love will bring you home" but I think it can be read as a stand alone too :)
A tid bit of background info about the story that you might want: "Love will bring you home" was a Sweettooth Human AU where Bunny comes back from the battlefront (maybe situate it during WWII).
Now Tooth has to deal with the scars war has left on her husband.

Enjoy this bitter-sweet story (of which I only own the plot)
Trigger warning: PTSD and war.

Ana was woken up by a muffled thump. Sleep hadn't been easy these last months. The empty gazes, the blood-curling shrieks followed by terrible convulsions, the ragged breathing. And the arrival of a new born baby did not improve the situation as much as she had expected.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim street light that entered through the window, and she estimated it was around 3am. The last traces of sleep left her when she noticed that the other side of the bed was empty once again, sheets in disarray and damp with sweat.

Quickly jumping out of bed and grabbing her dressing gown, not even bothering to turn on the lights, she wondered where she would find him this time. Would he be wandering around their home, going from window to window as if expecting to see an adversary that wasn't really there? Would she find him in the bathroom, purging his stomach's contents from that night's dinner and shaking like a leaf?

Or would he be a heap on the floor, eyes bewildered and full of terror?

She hoped that little Yvaine wouldn't wake. Ana couldn't tend to both her husband and her child, without feeling guilty for having to leave one of them to help the other.

She sighed. Yvaine was their little miracle and she had the naïve hope that it would help him cope.

But his mind worked in such strange ways now.

One moment he was playing with the infant and laughing along, but then a tinge of sadness clouded his eyes and he was tightly hugging Yvaine to his chest, pain and sorrow itching to burst out of him. Then he would put her on her crib and leave the room, being withdrawn for the rest of the day.

There was no telling when it would happen, but she was torn to pieces to see that grumpy yet kind man reduced to this. He didn't deserve it. Their child also deserved to have a father that would be there to hold her hand when scared of the shadows, and to teach her how to play and smile.

And Ana missed him. She missed him so much and was so bitter towards the world that had crushed the man she loved. And the fact that she couldn't directly release all that, made it grow heavy inside her heart.

Who was to blame? The war? The army? The ability of men to ruthlessly kill and only cause more suffering?

If only she knew the answer.

She approached the nursery and spied through the slit of the open door. He was inside, down on his knees, his hands pressed against his face to muffle his sobs, and trembling uncontrollably. The image of this once proud man, now crying like a lost child, broke her heart once more.

She even allowed herself to silently cry for the hardships her family was going through.

But she couldn't cry forever. She had promised in her wedding vows to be his support, his faithful companion, and his shelter.

Wiping tears away, she quietly entered the room.

Even after she was by his side, he didn't look up. She quietly caressed his hair, willing herself to not cry in front of him.

Yvaine was standing and looking at her father through the bars of her wooden crib. Despite only being 9 months old, she didn't seem to be altered. She wasn't crying or fussing as any other toddler would after being waken up in the middle of the night. She just stared at them with her big green eyes, wondering why her dad was acting so weird.

"Aster" Ana thanked that her voice didn't cracked.

The man finally looked up and quickly clung to her like a man to a rock amidst a storm, his head resting against her belly.

"It was raining, it was so cold and everyone was dead." He said in a thin quaky voice, words practically mashing together. "I couldn't find Yvaine, I heard you both scream and I couldn't her. I couldn't find you..." He trailed off as he choked on a sob.

Ana closed her eyes, a tear quickly escaping and rolling down her cheek. He had remembered the trenches and the rain and mud covering the other soldiers of the battalion, both dead and alive.

She couldn't even imagine how horrible it must have been and what kind of wild, consuming fears it had spurred.

So the woman did the only thing she knew: she held him even closer, letting her dressing gown to be stained by tears and waiting for the sobs to subside a little.

He kept on muttering things that were to fast for her to understand, until he was out of breath from crying.

She gently placed her hands on his cheeks and made him look up to her eyes.

"Look at me, Aster." She said calmly, slightly rubbing his temples. "Do you feel it when I do this? When you hug me?" She wiped the tears away and brushed away a sweaty strand of hair that had fallen over his eyes. "I'm here."

Ana picked the baby up, who was cooing delightedly at being held y her mother. The toddler quickly nested against the hollow of her neck, her favorite spot, and was entertained sucking one of the tips of the collar of her gown.

"We both are here." Ana slowly kneeled and stroked Aster's cheek, looking at him intently with all the love she possessed. "You're not alone anymore."

He pulled her close to him once more, embracing his wife and child as tears slowly rolled down again. But this time the heavy weight of fear that had gripped at his heart was gone.

Ana knew this wasn't over. The process of recovery and adjusting to his life before the war was only beginning and there were sure to be hard trials before them.

But they would conquer them together.

For now, she would hold tight to her child and broken soldier, keeping that ray of hope alive.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE TACKLED SUCH A SENSITIVE SUBJECT, SO I APOLOGIZE IF I DID IT WRONG
Please, let me know if there is something I should change or any aspect that I should work on. Thanks :D