Nightmares (FioLee)

Chapter One

Fionna woke up again, screaming. 
"The dream again?" Cake asked sleepily. 
Fionna nodded. "I still can't remember it though." 
"Tomorrow you should go to Gumball and see if he can help you." Cake replied before falling asleep again. 

Fionna nodded, and closed her eyes. But she couldn't fall asleep, no matter what. Sighing, she got up and changed her clothes, before grabbing her backpack and sword and heading out of the treehouse.
Then she stopped. What was she doing? There was no one up right now. Gumball was asleep, the Ice Queen wasn't bothering anybody, there was nothing that none of them could do now that they couldn't do in... well, there was Marshall Lee. But he seemed to be active during the day too, so... 

It couldn't hurt to go see if he was awake. As she set off for his house, she soon heard music. Smiling a little, she diverged from her path into the woods to find... a bunch of bugs playing a concert. 
"Do you want to stay and listen?" One of them chirped. 
"No, thanks. I'm going to go visit my friend." She replied. 

She set off again, a shadow watching her from the canopy. Suddenly, it dropped down behind her. She swung back around with her sword, which the 'assailant' dodged by levitating above it. "What are you doing up? It's like 3am." Marshall told her. 
"I couldn't sleep." Fionna admitted. 
"Yeah, that tends to happen when you're walking around the forest." Marshall pointed out. 

"I was on my way to see you." Fionna continued. 
Marshall flushed a little, though she couldn't see in the dark. "O-oh... I see. But... don't you need your sleep? You look tired." 
"Yeah, I haven't been getting much sleep lately." 
"Dreaming of someone special?" Marshall smirked. "Like Gumwad?" 

"No, it's not like that!" Fionna protested, though she blushed a little. Marshall's heart broke a tiny bit as he saw that (because unlike her, he actually could see fairly well in the dark) but he hid it behind a smile. "So what's it about?" 
"I can't really remember... but I think... I think the Lich is there." Fionna frowned in concentration. 

"So, it's a nightmare?" 
"One that keeps happening over and over again." Fionna sighed. "Prince Gumball said he'd help me with it tomorrow with some science..." 
"Yeah, and what if it doesn't work?" Marshall asked softly. 
"Then... I guess I'm never going to sleep again." Fionna joked. 

Marshall rolled his eyes. "What I think you need is a lullaby. Anyway, wanna see something cool?" 
"Sure." 
He took her by the hand, and brought her up to the canopy of the forest, before placing her in his lap. 
"Uh..." 
"Look, you're going to fall if I don't hold you, and this is more comfortable for both of us." Marshall told her, before pointing upwards. "Look up." 

"Oh, wow... the stars look great tonight." 
Marshall nodded. "I saw a couple of shooting stars earlier." 
She leaned against him. "Do you look at these every night?" 
"Sometimes. If I'm not too busy with something else, or watching you." 
"Couldn't you look at the stars from the treehouse?" 
"Nah. Too close to the Candy Kingdom. Too much light pollution." 

Fionna nodded, before turning to him. "Wait, you still spy on us?" 
"From time to time, yeah. Never heard anything about a nightmare though. And I'm not a creeper." 
"The nightmares have been happening for weeks..." Fionna said softly.
"Yeah, well... you didn't exactly seek me out during the daytime, either." Marshall said, matching her tone. 
"I've been busy." 

"Yeah, I get that..." Marshall sighed. "But... never mind. You're here now." 
"Marshall, if you wanted to spend time with me, you could have sought me out. I thought you were busy too." Fionna pointed out. 
"I said never mind." Marshall said softly. "It doesn't matter now... anyway, I promised you a lullaby, and I'll deliver. Scoot back, I need to be able to play." 

"Um... here?" Fionna moved a little ways away from him, just enough space for his hands. 
He nodded, and began to play a soft melody on his family axe. Soon, she slumped against him, breathing softly. He smiled a little to himself, and pulled her closer, placing her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that until the sky began to change colors, and then Marshall rushed her back to the treehouse, placing her softly in her bed before racing home before the sun could burn him. 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Fionna, why are you in your clothes already?" Cake asked as they woke up. 
"Hmm? Oh, Marshall must have brought me back after I fell asleep. I went out looking for him last night." Fionna explained. 
"Why?" 
"I couldn't sleep." 

"Okay. But... you didn't seem like you were having a nightmare." Cake pointed out. 
"Yeah, maybe I just have to fall asleep again after the nightmare?" Fionna guessed. 
Cake shrugged. "Let's eat some breakfast-- Gumball is expecting you soon. I'm going to go spend some time with MoChro and the kids." 
"Right. Hey, can we have bacon pancakes?" 
"Sure, why not?" 

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Alright, first I'm going to have to access the dream from your memory." Gumball stated. "Did you have it last night?" 
"Yeah, but then I had a better dream." 
"Alright, so let's go with the night before to keep it from bleeding into each other." Gumball suggested, punching the date into the computer. Fionna leaned back into the seat, the helmet pulled down over her eyes.

An image popped up onscreen of the Lich. "You destroyed me, little human... now you're going to have to watch as everything you love is gone." 
An image of Fionna, frozen in place with her eyes wide open briefly flashed across the screen, before the screen returned to the Lich. Standing next to her were Gumball, Cake, Marshall, and Fionna's parents. Simultaneously, their eyes went hollow, and their skin began to disappear, showing bone. As they all began to decay, their bodies suddenly collapsed to ash in green columns of flame. 

The screen faded to black, then it all began again. And again, the deaths being more gruesome each time. 
"That's disturbing." Gumball muttered, before finally ending the dream's playback and releasing Fionna from the bonds holding her. She shot out of the seat like a rocket, before turning on it with her sword drawn. "How do I make it go away?" She asked. 
"Well..." Gumball began.