FD: One Shots and Extras

7. Distant Dreams

Sleeping was difficult. Most nights Hans peeled his eyes open and watched bitterly as his sister slept peacefully. It was hard to believe they were equal. Didn't she hear the voices at night? Didn't it scare her? She was scared of everything! Hans took let out huff as he stared at the ceiling. Dirt, hard pressed dirt with nothing but moonlight coming from the door upstairs. Even that, however was limited as he tried to keep the door hidden.

They burned. His eyes felt heavy as he gripped the sheets and tried to force them open.

He was the strong one.

He was the brave one, for his sister.

He couldn't show an ounce of fear. If he lost his rational mindset to fear and doubt, then how would he help Gree through hers?

He needed to stay awake. Tomorrow he could take another cold shower, but right now he'd just breathe and count the seconds until daylight.

"...Hans, I know you're real. I know you're keeping the other world safe, but I need you..."

There it was. That voice, that repetitive voice that haunted his dreams. His heart beat a bit quicker. The voice sounded so familiar, but too far to touch. He couldn't speak back to it. While he laid there he may as well be paralyzed. He couldn't move, he was helpless past hearing his beating heart that ached with the boy's words.

"Daddy didn't let me sleep with you last night, but I'm here now. I ran from daycare, don't tell daddy. I had to see you."

Hans felt his body embraced by a little boy. He was on his bed with Gree, yet at that moment he could feel a young boy's arms. He heard noises he couldn't identify, the shifting of wheels.

Quick steps rushed into the room. "Benjamin!" He felt the boy be pulled away. "You can't run off like that!"

The boy burst into tears as he was pulled away. "No. He's gonna wake up. I'm going to be here when he wakes up! Gree wished he'd come back. He's gonna come back!" The voice turned loud, as he heard a commotion. Different noises and furniture being knocked over.

"I know you're upset. I know, but sometimes people fall asleep, and they don't wake up."

Hans jolted in bed. He never understood who the voices were. The dream always sent a chill up his spine. Was it a premonition? A warning? He could never tell. Who was holding him? The voice sent his heart into overdrive each time. The dirty olive green, a disgrace to wishing hearts everywhere. It would flash, and he'd have no control. It was during these dreams, that'd he'd feel closest to a real wishing heart. It was during these nights he felt the most broken. It was in these times that he held his sister.

She smiled in her sleep. She didn't know it, but he didn't know what he'd do without her.