Dream Catcher Shorts

IV

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

I think this will be the last one until I can finish a lot of the other short stories I started and never finished. I won't give any explanation for this one other than it's really short. Also I promise not to make a super long ramble at the bottom this time :^)) In fact, there won't be any explanation for this one whatsoever. I shouldn't have posted this because it's a pretty big thing I haven't touched upon in DC yet, buuuut...... I said "to hECK with it" and posted it anyway. Ehh, you'll just have to figure out what happened yourself. 

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She sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, her chin resting upon her knees so she could keep a clear view on the door. It was late. Very, very late. Her eyes were drooping, threatening to close and let her drift off into a dream. But she couldn't. It wasn't the time to sleep even if she wanted to. Even if he told her to go back to sleep. How could she? She hugged herself tighter. How many times had it been now? Too many, too many to count on her fingers at least.

There was one night a few months back when she had actually followed him to wherever he had gone. She didn't mean to get caught, and she regretted it now. He was very angry and upset at her. She couldn't tell if he was actually angry that she followed him or if he was just worried that she snuck out in the middle of the night and could have gotten hurt. When she tried to ask him about it the next morning, he wouldn't say anything. The only thing he said about it was to not tell Azima and that it was their secret. She agreed, and never asked about it again. It was always fun to be in on something when no one else was, except she didn't know much more than the face of the person he was talking to.

Fae yawned, her eyes falling down to the floor. Her eyelids dropped further down. For some time she battled the urge to fall asleep. She had to stay awake. She had to wait. It wouldn't be much longer, she was sure of it. It had already been over an hour. Surely he wouldn't stay out for much longer when it was so late already, then he wouldn't get any sleep.

Azima rubbed at his tired eyes as he walked into the main room. An eyebrow raised in confusion when he saw a familiar head of mousy brown hair. Oh dear. He sincerely hoped that Amaro hadn't gotten angry at her and kicked her out of his room. They got along like two peas in a pod, but he had been acting a bit strange towards her lately.

He made his way over to the couch, crouching down so he was on her level. Azima gently shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. She wasn't necessarily a light sleeper, per say, and definitely not to the extent that he learned Amaro was (it's very difficult to put a child to sleep and try to walk away only for him to wake up again), but it was fairly easy to wake her up.

"Amaro...?" she mumbled sleepily, blinking her eyes open.

"No, it's just me, love," Azima responded and ruffled her hair, smiling softly. He straightened his back and sat down beside her. "You're usually up by now; did you have another late night?"

Fae looked around the room for a few moments before nodding her head. Late nights were common place for her, for the most part. She always tried to be awake as soon as Amaro started having a nightmare, but it usually ended in her just getting a few less hours of sleep. She just couldn't stand waking up to him freaking out because she couldn't help in time. But the reason she stayed up late was different this time.

Azima was quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "How come you slept out here last night?" he asked, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

Her breath got caught in her throat. She hadn't expected him to ask. "I..." If she told him that Amaro left in the middle of the night that would be breaking her promise. But... She looked at the door and then towards the hallway. He hadn't come home. There was no way he just wouldn't come back though. He said he would be back, even though he didn't know what time specifically. Not to mention, he promised they would be together forever. He was probably just running late or something... or he got lost or ran into an old friend!

"Fae?" he tried to get her attention after she spaced out. "Did something happen?"

She shook her head vigorously, turning so she could smile at Azima. "Nope!"

That's right! She just had to stay positive. He would be back soon, she knew it. He wouldn't leave without saying something, especially without telling Azima. It was just another one of those meetings he had with that strange man. It was just a little longer than usual because something happened. That was it. It wasn't that big of a deal, and he would explain it all when he got home! No biggie.

He smiled back at her and laughed softly. "That's good, for a moment there I thought something was wrong!"