Fire Emblem - Awakening: March Prompts

Anxiety

Sometime before Chapter 6. Anna

Thunder boomed, shaking me from my already light haze of sleep. Raindrops assaulted the tent canvas and wind howled, threatening to tear apart the tent. Normally, the chills of being awoken on a rainy night would cause me to find as many blankets as I could and huddle with them to find some sense of warmth. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the already constant warmth that came with cuddling with my fiancé.

I hummed in content, allowing my eyes to flutter shut. Is this really the first rainstorm since we started sharing a tent? Gods, we've only been engaged for two weeks but it feels like forever! Huh, I guess this is a perk. He is constantly warm. He's a human furnace, I swear.

Crack!

A particularly violent sounding boom of thunder resonated throughout the area, a flash of light appearing beforehand. Bile began to rise up my throat; I brought my hand to my mouth. No no no no no... As more thunder shook the ground, my trembling came just as fast. It's not real. It's just a sound. It can't hurt me.

...But I use it to hurt others, and others can use it to hurt me.

My breathing quickened as my thoughts ran wild. Wait, what if we're under attack?! Mages could use the rain as cover to use Thunder spells and ambush us! Oh, gods, we're going to die. I can't save us this time. I hadn't prepared for such an attack!

My throat was too tight, demanding that I use my mouth to gulp in as much air as I could manage. With each breath, the more nauseous I felt. "I can't - I can't. Oh, gods - no! No!" Everything was numb. My arms and legs tingled, the feeling slowly crawling to the rest of my body. Was I sitting up? Was I laying down? I couldn't even tell. When I tried opening my eyes, I was met with a throb in my temples and blacked out vision. "I'm dying - I'm dying. I-I-I can't fe-feel - gods!"

I suddenly felt a constricting force around my waist, which only added to my panic. "No! No! Stop! Let-let me go!" I willed my legs to move, kicking at whatever was trying to take me. It seemed to work as the force went away and the feeling of warmth receded.

During all of this, one other thought managed to come to mind. "Ch-Chrom! No! Whe-where-? Gods, n-no! I-I have t-to-" The numbness started to fade, but only slightly. I finally was able to grip my thoughts. He's dead! They got him before me! This is all my fault!

Before I knew anything else was happening, someone was gripping both of my hands, squeezing them like they were a lifeline. I wanted to rip myself from that touch. However, whoever was holding them was not moving them. They weren't trying to restrain me, not pulling me to my feet, nothing. Instead, the only movement was them occasionally squeezing them. Soon enough, I realized that this was becoming a pattern.

Squeeze for five seconds, relax for ten. Squeeze for five seconds, relax for ten. Squeeze for five seconds, relax for ten...

I found myself welcoming this rhythm, thankful for a distraction. What was I just worrying about? Where was I? I remembered how to breathe, exhausted calm settling throughout my body. My breathing decided to join this rhythm, only aiding in settling my racing heart.

"That's it...just like that. You're doing great..." A voice rumbled. I felt lips pressed against my forehead, gently kissing. That too joined the rhythm, happening as I exhaled.

Much to my dismay - but I couldn't really feel any emotion at the moment - the hands left mine. I wanted to move and protest, but I felt them once more. Instead, one settled on my back and the other held my hand with a kind gentleness as I was put in a sitting position. The hand left mine, only to press a cold glass into my hands.

"Drink." The voice willed me. I did what it said, lifting the glass to my lips and taking a long drink. The rush of water down my dry throat was gratifying. While that was happening, the hand on my back started rubbing soothing circles. Once I finished the drink, it was taken away and set down somewhere, then I was gently pulled to rest against a warm body.

By feeling alone, I knew who it was. A week of sharing a bed was all it took for me to recognize the build and shape of my fiancé without even looking. I reached around for one of his hands. "Chrom..."

"I'm right here," he murmured softly in my ear. "Don't worry. Everything is fine. We're not under attack."

I forced my eyes open, the dull throbbing still occurred and my vision was blurry, but at least I could see. "What happened..."

"Shh...relax." He pressed a kiss to the side of my head. "Don't push yourself. You just had a bit of an anxiety attack, that's all."

I finally found his hand, lazily entwining it with my own. Guilt rushed through me as I realized that I must have kicked him accidentally during my frenzy. "Are you hurt?"

He released a breath; I could feel it against my neck. "I'm fine, you didn't hurt me. It was my fault for trying to hug you during your panic. I should've known better."

That didn't ease my worries one bit. "Still..."

"Trust me, I'm all right. You didn't even kick that hard if it's any consolation," he chuckled. The sound was music to my ears.

A bought of drowsiness rushed over me like a crashing wave. "I want to go to sleep..."

"All right. Ok. We can do that." He nodded, settling us both down in the blankets. "You need rest. You need lots and lots of rest."

I found myself snuggling into his warmth as much as I could. "You don't have to baby me..."

"Well, someone has to take care of you." He gently kissed me on the forehead. "I love you."

My eyes threatened to fall shut, my fiance's breathing hypnotizing me. "I love you, too..."

I'm fine. Everything is ok. Chrom is alive and so are our soldiers. I've nothing to worry about.

*****
Whoop. Poor Anna. Once again, this goes back to my theory of Anna having a phobia of storms. Yee. So here's the thing: Scottish Pokémon trainer. My new favorite meme of 2019. They make me so happy. So yeah, that's all I got. Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Next Prompt: March 16th - "Cherry Blossoms"

Link: https://youtu.be/_nc-ezQAyUU