ZERO / BLEACH (here) / TWIST / REVERSE / DYE / RED

To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower /Hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. -William Blake

Shisui still left on his trip.

"I'll be right back. 3 days max," he promised, even as Sakura fretted watching him pack his car. He talked to her in bits and pieces as he moved back and forth.

"You won't even have time to miss me," he added, shutting the door.

Normally, he was right. He came and went so often that it was an obvious thing.

"I won't be able to see Venus like this for a while if I miss this window."

When he stopped in front of her, she tried to put on a smile for him.

"When I get back, we'll go to that Cuban place you love so much. On me, okay?" he reached out and squeezed her hand. Sakura squeezed back. Smiling brighter- brighter.

"Okay. Be safe."

She watched him drive away, her heart plummeting down to her feet. She cast one final charm on him for protection as she watched the car make a turn at the end of the street.

At night, as she walked the halls of the dream world. Brushing her fingers along each ornate door, she always made sure to check Shisui's. Deep blue with gold detailing. The handle was in the shape of a crescent moon. She rested her hand on it. Feeling the warmth of Shisui's magic thrumming through it. He was too far for her to enter his dreams. But just knowing he was there brought her some comfort.

Itachi didn't understand her sudden panic. Neither did Sasuke. But he packed a bag and moved into one of the guest rooms on the third floor.

"Just until you stop feeling… whatever you're feeling," Sasuke mumbled as he pushed past her when she opened the front door for him.

But as the three days went by, there was no word from Shisui. His phone went straight to voicemail. Neither of his parents had heard from him either.

At the very least, Sakura had pestered him enough for him to say where he was going.

Itachi borrowed Madara's car to drive up to Shisui's supposed destination. Sasuke went with him. Sakura almost volunteered to go too. But she thought of Madara all by himself, and she could almost see the blood painting the floor again. She settled for casting protection charms over both of them as she said goodbye. Her heart thumped in her throat until they returned just before sundown.

They contacted the police. Organized search parties. There was no sign of Shisui. It was as if he had just evaporated into thin air.

Ino and Naruto came over to help them post flyers all over the city.

Have you seen this man? they read.

When they stopped to drink coffee, Naruto put his arm around Sakura.

"It's going to be okay," he tried to comfort her. Ino put her arm around Sakura too, and they hugged her close. She was grateful for the warmth, even as her stomach continued to twist in knots.

On the fourth night, Itachi borrowed his dad's car. He went up to search the mountains by himself.

He didn't return either.

Sasuke tried to follow after them. Only after Sakura grabbed his legs and begged him not to go did Sasuke promise to stay put. He grew pale and sharp, pacing back and forth in front of Shisui and Itachi's doors in the dream world each night.

Sakura cast Madara's scrying bones each day, trying to divine an answer from them.

But they only repeated themselves over and over again.

Beware of the dreams that linger.

Do not give your heart away.

Customers and friends dropped by the dream shop, asking where Itachi and Shisui had gone. Those who knew what had happened expressed their sympathy. It was nothing she wanted to hear. Sakura took on Sasuke's appointments and kept him busy sorting things in the back. He never thanked her out loud, but he bought her coffee more often. Carried her things when they walked back after closing the shop for the night. At the very least his grief hadn't stolen that from him.

Then, one awful day in December, Shisui's door went dark.

Sakura scrambled to find a knob. But there was nothing. She pressed both her hands to the door, and it was cold. She screamed in the long, twisting corridor of the dream world. Screamed until it echoed and rippled, warping the fabric of the dream. And when she woke, tears were streaming down her face.

Sakura stumbled into Madara's room, half-blind in the darkness. He fumbled to turn the lamp on. And then his hands were grabbing hers.

"Shisui is-"

"I know."

She held on to Madara as she sobbed. Wishing she had tried harder to stop him. And then Sasuke appeared in the doorway too. His face white. Eyes rimmed with red. Sakura reached her hand out for him. He grasped it tightly, silent tears running down his face as he stared at the ground.

They took turns keeping watch over Itachi's door. It didn't open up to welcome them. But it didn't darken either. And that was one small source of comfort.

The scrying bones glowed a little and whispered:

Beware of the dreams that linger.

Sakura couldn't help but feel responsible in some way.

If only she had convinced Shisui to stay.

Or if only she had managed to hold on to Itachi. To have lost only one cousin rather than two.

She tried to recall that long dream. She didn't remember seeing the darkened doors to Shisui and Itachi's dreams. But, then again, she recalled how her fear had kept her up at night. She hadn't really had a chance to enter the dream world properly during the fitful naps she snuck in. Perhaps their doors had gone dark. She wouldn't have known.

The police claimed they were still searching, but both Sakura and Madara agreed that it obviously wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. That sucks," Naruto said. Leaning against her, he put his arm around her shoulder. Ino took Sakura's hand and patted it a few times.

"Thanks," was all she could say as her friends did their best to comfort her.

Then Naruto disappeared too.

And Sakura was left wondering why everything was crumbling underneath her feet.

As the days in December went by, the new year loomed over the horizon. Sakura recalled how on New Year's Eve, she had discovered Madara in that dream. She felt a little sick just recalling the stench of death that overflowed from his bedroom. Sometimes she imagined it when she poked her head inside, just to ask Madara to help with her increasingly frequent headaches.

She slept particularly fitfully one night. She didn't even get a chance to get to the entrance to the dream world. She was immediately plunged into a nightmare, tossed violently from side to side as if she were in a storm on the open sea.

Every dream had a thread that bound it together. Unknotting it was all it took to resolve it- to send it scattering off in sparkling particles. While that thread was easy to see from the outside, it was much harder to spot on her own. She wandered along the shifting landscape. Now she was in a thorny patch of forest. Then a thunderstorm. Probably a reflection of her troubled mind more than anything.

It took a while. But when she finally found the thread that bound the nightmare, she gave it a sharp tug. Everything around her began to dissolve around her until she found herself standing in her room in the dream world.

There was a soft tap at the door. She knew Madara would walk in.

A fragment of the nightmare lingered- jagged and dark against the light purple walls and floor. Madara banished it with a shake of his wrist. He stepped forward and laid his palm against her forehead.

"You been getting these a lot?" he queried.

Sakura didn't say anything. Didn't really have to.

"May I?" Madara then asked, gesturing around. Sakura nodded.

He reformed the piece of the nightmare into a set of matching chairs. He took a seat in one and then patted the other. Sakura lowered herself into it. Her legs were still shaking.

They just sat there in her room. The gems sitting on the shelves pulsated softly in time to her heartbeats. Madara leaned back, one hand tucked under his head.

"You okay?" he finally asked after a long while. It might have just been a moment. It was hard to tell in the dream world. Time didn't move the way it was supposed to.

"I…" Sakura pulled her knees up against her chest.

She had avoided telling Madara about her dream for the longest time. It was just a nightmare, after all. But it was the first time she had seen one so vivid. And it was the first time something had shaken her to the core like this. She was supposed to be grown now. But as she looked over at Madara, she felt her breath hitch a little.

"I have something I want to tell you, Papa," she admitted.

His expression didn't change. When she was younger, she had thought that meant he didn't care. But he was listening. He opened his eyes, looking at her now. He arched an eyebrow, asking. She shook her head.

"Not here. When we wake," Sakura added.

And as if responding to her wish, the dream world began to dissolve around them. It was so sudden that Madara's eyes widened. He reached a hand out for her. But when his hand caught her arm, it just melted into air.

Madara jolted awake, sitting up in his bed.

"Sa-"

"Here, Papa," Sakura said, stepping into his bedroom. She sat on the edge of his bed.

It startled her. The panicked look in his eyes. But it was familiar.

He grasped her hands a little too tightly. He brought her hands to his forehead. It almost felt like he was shaking a little. And that felt familiar too.

"Did you have a nightmare, too? It's okay, Papa," Sakura tried to assure him.

"Yeah. You're right," he replied, not meeting her eyes.

Madara took a moment to shake himself out of whatever it was. Then he ran a hand through his hair. He even smiled a little for her. And it struck her again how lucky she was to have him in her life.

"Papa, I had a nightmare."

"Yeah, I know. I just saw."

"No… I mean… a while ago. I had a really bad one. And… it really scared me."

Madara was silent as he took in her story. And once she had finished speaking, Madara picked up the comforter. He wrapped it around her. And then with another smile, he patted her back a few times.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of you, kid," he promised her.

He said it so easily. But it made her feel at ease. Madara always knew what to do. Or he would open up one of his old books and find an answer another way. He got out of bed, fumbling around for his glasses on the nightstand.

"You're right that divination and dreams have some kind of link. It might not happen exactly the way you dreamt, but it seems like parts of it are already coming true. Let's cast some shields around the house for now. And then I'll figure out what we can do next," Madara said, already coming up with a plan as he shuffled into his slippers and pulled a robe on over his pajamas.

He mussed her hair one last time before he made his way out of his bedroom. Already muttering incantations and plans to himself. Magic gently drifting off him like gold bits of glitter.

Sakura got dressed and woke Sasuke with a cup of coffee. Madara recommended that she didn't tell him about the details of her dream. After all, if she had foreseen his brother disappearing, he might not react in the most positive way. She agreed. Especially seeing Sasuke's bloodshot eyes. The constant exhaustion had really taken a toll on him. He brushed off her concerns when she asked him if he was feeling alright.

Madara was gone for most of the day. When he saw them at dinner, he dropped two necklaces on the table. They were made of silver chains wrapped around three identical gems. A minty blueish-green that swirled together with purple.

"Wear these," he ordered, settling into one of the wooden chairs. He puffed out a deep breath, fanning himself. He was wearing an identical necklace to the ones he had brought them.

Sakura hovered a hand over one of the necklaces. The soft hum of a charm tingled against her skin.

She looked at Madara.

"Is this one of mine?" she wondered.

"Yeah. It's from that fluorite you enchanted last summer. Your spell had a nice kick to it so I just enhanced it a little," Madara replied.

That made sense. Madara's job was to imbue magic into objects and to see how they interacted. It wasn't the first time she had seen him enchant wearable objects. And even as she picked it up, Sakura could feel the necklace thrumming with magic now.

It was no wonder he seemed so winded now. It had probably taken a lot out of him to make three of these on such short notice.

"Wear them- especially when you're out," Madara instructed. He looked at Sakura. Waited until she nodded. And then he held Sasuke's gaze. Only looking away when Sasuke nodded too.

Sakura recognized this protection charm as she clasped the necklace around her neck. Just to test it out, she slapped at Sasuke's arm. Her hand bounced harmlessly off the invisible barrier. It was a shield that responded proportionally to the strength of the threat. When she aimed a fist at him, the shield rebuffed her with a snap.

Sasuke sent a tongue of flame toward her. It scattered off the invisible barrier in a shower of sparks. Even he looked impressed at that.

"Thanks," he muttered.

Madara stared at his nephew. And then he patted him on the shoulder.

They decided to close the dream shop for a while.

Madara drove them past in his car. Sakura hung out the window to cast barriers over the entrance and the windows. Just in case someone felt tempted to break in during their absence.

Then they lingered on the side of the street in the car.

It was late enough that no one was really outside. The windows of all the other stores were dark. Just the occasional neon sign flickering to advertise fortune telling or levitation charms.

Sasuke sat in the back of the car, staring at the shop too.

He had grown even quieter in the absence of his brother. Sometimes he smiled if she really tried to get in his face. But even then, Sakura knew. He was just doing it for her. That something had died inside of him when his brother had vanished into thin air.

Since neither of them was working, they spent even more time together now. Sometimes Sakura coaxed him into helping her testing out her thesis. They both knew that the thesis meant nothing to her now. But it was something to do. To break the suffocating silences where Shisui or Itachi should have been saying something beside them.

As snow fell quiet and lovely on the city, Sakura handed him a piece of banana bread fresh out of the oven. They sat at the window, staring at the powder that had begun to coat the streets and the telephone wires.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got your back. Okay?"

He turned to look at her. Squinting.

"What?"

She nibbled at her slice of bread, still watching the snow. "I mean that I'm still here. I've got your back. So… don't feel too alone."

Sasuke stared down at the bread. It was dotted with chocolate chips and little bits of walnuts.

"I… yeah. Thanks," he mumbled. And then he added, "I got yours too."

They finished off the bread in silence.

Christmas suddenly rolled around. They found themselves completely unprepared until, two days before, Sakura saw the date on the calendar and noticed.

Even though no one was in the mood for any of that, they cast spells to drape the banisters with garlands and to hang holly from the doors. All the twinkling lights filled the house with glitter. But it lacked the warmth that usually came with this time of year. No one had to say anything. They all knew why.

They ate dinner on Christmas. Just the three of them. Music playing low in the background. The smell of cinnamon and orange filling the air from the candles that burned suspended in each room.

Maybe it would have been a little enjoyable if Sakura wasn't busy fretting over the shields and wards set all around the house. With each day that brought them closer to the new year, she panicked over every detail. She set double and triple-layered protection charms over every door and every window. She even cast protection over Madara's car parked on the street.

Madara caught her sitting on top of the steps past midnight. Sasuke had already gone to bed- not that he was getting very much sleep lately.

Madara watched Sakura testing the shield spells for a while. He disappeared for a bit. And when he returned, it was with a cup of coffee. She held it with one hand, continuing to cast with the other.

"Kid…" Madara sighed. "Sakura. You should at least pretend to sleep like Sasuke does."

And then, leaning against the bannister, Madara smirked. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't waste my breath," he added before she could make the retort herself. He took off his glasses, let them dangle from the chain around his neck.

"Don't stay up too late, okay?" he tried to warn her.

As he turned away, Sakura spoke in a tiny voice. So small she thought maybe he wouldn't hear her.

"Merry Christmas."

His back was still to her. But he tilted his head.

"Merry Christmas, kid."