Tales of SaiRat (Completed)

Nightmares_A SaiRat OS

Beneath the deep red sky, with his arms around Sai's waist, Virat's body was swaying of its own accord. The sand was pleasantly warm beneath his bare feet; and the sea roared at a distance, often paying a visit and brushing their feet, washing away their footprints along with it. The place had an air of unusual serenity about it.

He looked up to her glowing face, behind which, the setting Sun drew level with her head, projecting an illusion, as if her head was adorning a crown of gold.

She smiled at him, and his smile grew wider. The latter leaned in, their foreheads touched, and just as he was about to press his lips against hers, he heard a deafening scream.

"Aaaaaarghhh!"

He abruptly sat back up and looked here and there; darkness everywhere. No sign of a deep red sky, or warm sand, or a roaring sea, or a setting sun. It took him a moment to register that he had been dreaming about the dance with his wife by the sea-side, and it was then that he heard another scream.

He looked onto his left - past the the Great Wall of China, constructed using pillows, which his wife surprisingly remembered building every night - and found Sai, panting heavily, drenched in sweat, turning from side to side, muttering something he could not fathom.

He panicked and shoved the wall of pillows out of his vision, and started shaking Sai awake.

"Sai... Sai! Sai, wake up! Get up, Sai!"

Her eyes opened, and as she saw his hands on her shoulders, she jerked them off, leaving him astonished. It was when she looked up to his face, did she seem to realise she was out of the nightmare she had been witnessing moments ago.

"Virat sir!" she cried, and leapt into his arms. He remained frozen, too shocked to act.

She had been having a nightmare. Or was it a nightmare? What if this wasn't the first time and he hadn't noticed. Obviously, she was having nightmares, she had faced so much at such a tender age. Harassed by a goon, witnessed the death of her father - who was her everything, forced to marry a stranger - however it may hurt him, that was the truth, he wasn't more than a stranger to her when she had married him, and then, treated as if she's not human by people who are apparently her only family in this world.

But she could've told him. But what if she didn't trust him enough? What if this was the first time she had had a nightmare, though?

He looked down upon her damp figure, caging her in his embrace.

Tightening her hold, crying away into his clothes, she almost climbed into lap.

He kissed her hair, and momentarily, he was enchanted by their smell, but he brought himself back into his senses, rather forcefully, as Sai pulled away, climbing out of his lap and sitting beside him.

He held her face in his palms, and asked, after a moment's reassuring silence, as softly as he could, "Nightmare, was it?"

She nodded, fresh tears flowing down her already-drenched-with-sweat face.

"First, or have you have had them before tonight?"

"Have-had-them-before-tonight," she muttered, softly yet quickly, averting her gaze from his, addressing the crease near her hand in the bedsheet.

"And you did not think it right to tell me? To let me know?" he asked, disappointment visibly present in his voice.

She looked up with guilt-ridden eyes, unable to form an answer.

His heart melted at that. Disappointed though he was, it wasn't her fault in the slightest.

He held her by her elbows and said, "Never mind that now, what's gone's gone. You can tell me now, perhaps sharing your worries might ease it for you. You can always trust me, Sai, you know that."

She looked at him apologetically.

Deducing her unsaid answer, he said, "It's... It's OK if you don't want to say it now. I understand. Take your time. And when you're ready, you may. Just know that I'm always there to listen to you."

"It's-
No, I... it's- Virat sir, I can-
I just..." she struggled to find the right words.

"It's OK, Sai. I won't force you."

"It was... I saw... Jag-"

She could not complete, yet he knew what she wished to say. Intense loathing started filling up his nerves as he recalled his experiences with this person.

"You know he can't reach you here. You're safe with me, Sai."

"I- I know, but-
I still keep having these nigh-
It sometimes feels-
impossible to forego the traum-
I can't... I can't help it, Virat si-"

"Perhaps I can't understand your pain, Sai, but I'm grateful you trust me enough to have shared it with me. Perhaps it's not easy to let go of it so easily, but I know you can do it. You're my brave girl, aren't you? And I want you to know something: I'll stand with you at every step, to protect you, to encourage you, to help you. Never hesitate to share something with me, alright?"

Her eyes welled up with tears of overwhelming as she once again leapt into his arms.

He did not know for how long they remained such: Sai, half-sitting in his laps, clutching him tight, and he, consoling her, comforting her, reassuring her.

When they pulled away, he said, "Shall we sleep, now?"

Her hitherto calm face suddenly inflicted panic, and she said, "No! No, I- I don't want-
I'll see him again-
No, I can't!"

He looked at her, worried.

"You can. As long as I'm with you, you can. I told you I'll stand with you at every step, didn't I? Now's the time to live up to my words," he said, inching closer.

As he slid his arms past her, she gave into his chest, and closed her eyes, trying to sleep.

Once settled in a comfortable position, his arms wrapped securely around her, he said, "D'you want to know about my dream?"

She instantly shot her eyes open, and climbing over him in excitement, nodded.

He smiled and narrated all he remembered about the sea-side, with an exception of the almost-kiss, yet it was enough to make her face mirror the sky he had seen in his dreams.

"Want to make it come true?" he asked, having finished the narration, only to find her fast asleep.

He sighed and closed his eyes, drifting into sleep himself.

She smiled at him, and his smile grew wider. The latter leaned in, their foreheads touched, as he pressed his lips against her; drowning into an oblivion such he wasn't certain he would come out of it.

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I apologise if the dialogues, or the reactions, or anything does not do justice with the plot; all I have is imagination, when it comes to traumas such, experience: none, so do forgive me.

And thank you for all the kind words on 'A Trip to Heaven_A Virat Chavan OS' and before.

Special thanks to the one who requested for it, because if not for them, I wouldn't have written an OS so dear to me: RudraThakur8