The First Times

First Nightmare

It was passed midnight when Will and Nico heard the scream.

Both rushed put of bed- Nico with his Styxian sword in hand that he kept under the pillow -and to Ana's room. Maybe she wouldn't be able to see the sword properly, but they weren't bothered when protecting their daughter. When Will turned the lights on of the room, they saw Ana clutching to the bedsheets tightly and panting while staring at the wall.

"Ana? Sweetie, you OK?" Will headed her way, checking her out for any signs of damage while Nico checked the room. But Ana nodded and it was only when tears started to fall down that Will realized she had a nightmare. "Oh, sweetie..." He hugged her tight to him, earning a sobbing little girl. Nico, more calmed now that there were no threats, stood next to them.

"C- can I- I s- sleep w- with y- you...?" She asked, sobbing loudly. Will glanced at Nico and neither had the heart to say no, mainly because she had sought them out instead of simply keeping this bottled inside her.

"Sure, sweetie..." Nico agreed, nodding. Will picked her up and carried her to their room, while Nico looked around for one last time. No monsters, nothing out of place. Apparently, Ana had had a really vivid nightmare and woke up screaming. After one last sigh, he headed back to bed, only to find Ana still clinging to Will. His face spoke only one word.

'Help!'.

Immediately taking action, Nico pulled Ana from Will and down with him, tightly to him. Ana's sobs got lower but continued to clutch his black shirt, so Nico began to stroke her hair softly. Will finally got in a better position, leaning down in bed and pulling closer to them, leaving Ana in the middle.

"Wanna tell us what happened?" Nico said, once she was not sobbing. Ana, not surprisingly, shook her head vehemently clutching tighter. "Nothing will happen if you tell us, I promise..." Nico felt Ana's hesitation and glanced at Will. Why would Ana feel like she will be punished for tell them what happened?

"It- it was for when I- I was with m- my Aunt..." Will scooted closer, listening. "I- I had b- bad dreams and- and she would say it- it was s- stupid..."

"Now, sweetie... We don't think is stupid if you are afraid..." Will reassured her. "It's OK if you don't wanna talk about it, but we won't believe it is stupid..." Nico nodded, agreeing with him. Ana nodded too, but looked as if she didn't want to share anyway. "Why don't you sleep with us tonight and we can talk in the morning, alright...?"

It was as if a switch had been turned off in Ana's emotions. She immediately yawned and cuddled in between her parents. Five minutes later, everyone was in a deep sleep.

Normally the grumpy one, Nico woke up first to find the same situation that last night. Apparently, Ana hadn't moved from her position and neither did Will. But Ana was awake and immediately pulled Nico closer when she saw him awake. Nico rubbed her back gently, kissing her forehead.

"I'll never sleep again." She announced, sad. Nico wanted to complain, but decided to go in a different direction.

"If you don't sleep, you cannot dream... And if you don't have dreams, you can't be the big, strong girl we know and love..." Ana looked pensive about it. Nico decided to continue. "We all have bad dreams from time to time, that will never stop... But the trick is to recognize when they're real and when are they fake..."

"It felt real..." She mumbled, still scared.

"I had a nightmare when I was younger too." Ana paid attention to his voice. "When I was a kid, my Mom died and I was raised by my sister, Bianca... After a while, she also died but I wasn't with her... For months, I dreamt the ways she could have died, blaming the wrong people in the process... It was a very bad thing to do..." Ana seemed to think something before speaking.

"I was in the car with Mom and Dad again... Alex was there too..." She started, trying to be brave. "We were laughing and singing and Dad had stopped at the light... Then-" Her lips trembled and Nico kissed her forehead, trying to calm her down. "The- the truck came and- and-"

"Shhh... Nothing will hurt you again, I promise..." He told her, pulling her closer. The sobbing girl sought comfort in her new parental figure, trying to calm down. "Come on, it's Saturday and we can have a lay down..." He started to stroke her hair, humming a tune his older sister always used when he couldn't sleep. He couldn't remember the words, but the music was enough as she was asleep soon afterwards.

"You never told me about the nightmares..." Nico heard Will's whisper and rolled his eyes at him.

"Should I go through every detail in my life?"

"That's the point of getting to know each other, yes!" He glared at him. Nico ignored him. "Don't you dare give me the silent treatment-"

"You'll wake her up. Please..."

"We will talk about this, later."

"Deal."

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Good morning/afternoon/night!

How are you guys?! I'm at home with a sty on my eyelid (bastard's been lurking for a week, almost), which is the most exciting news I got for you... I know many of your are getting ready for school again (wether, middle, high, college or university), I wish to wish you many good things ahead. As bad as school sounds, it's not the end of the world! I've been there myself...

Also, I have to say that the editing of my old stories is going, slowly. But it's going! I just finished revising all the mistakes of Goddess @ Goode (both parts) and all I have left is the cover... Anyone wants to be a kind soul? PM me with the header 'Fiction Cover'.

So, let's move on to the stories, shall we?

The First Times: 1 chapter! Thanks everyone for the comments, lift my heart and spirit!

Quest: Matchmade (former collab with ReeReeWithAngst): 1 chapter... So exciting! We're near the end...

Oh, before I forget! The requests asked are on their way, I just need some time to organize myself! Been dedicated to revising my old stories, sorry...

See you guys next week!
xoxo, SilverHuntresses