Her Curse...

02 ~ Sakura | Edited

     "Have you always been able to do...that?" Grey had asked. "No. It was a curse." I never took my eyes off the subtle path in front of us, but I did raise up my hand to show him the mark on the back of it. "How long?"
     "A year..." The sadness had leaked into my voice, and I hated it. "That must suck..." We didn't say anything after that until we got to the edge of the forest.

     Where we were now. "I want to help you break the curse..If it's possible." Grey suddenly said, right as I opened my mouth to send him off. "What?" I asked, taken completely by surprise. "I want to help you break the curse." He repeated. I felt...almost a bit glad, or grateful..maybe that someone, other than Lucas and Sora, had actually offered to help me. Everyone else had been too scared.
     "I-I'll answer you in the morning." I replied, kneeling down and putting my bag down on the grass. "So...we're staying here?" Grey sounded confused. "We'll sleep here tonight, and I'll answer in the morning." I said simply, pulling a jacket from my bag and folding it into a pillow-like shape. "Uh, okay." He still seemed confused, but he followed my lead and began helping me get a few blankets out of my bag and laying them out in the grass.
     It didn't even take ten minutes, and we both agreed we weren't hungry, so we didn't eat any of the food in our bags. Now we were laying back to back on top of two blankets, our heads on the makeshift pillows, while we were under another, larger blanket.
     As much as I didn't trust Grey...I did trust him more than I did when I first woke up with him that morning. And as much as I wanted to,  I couldn't sleep. Partially because I was trying to decide whether to let him help me, partially because I was scared to go back to my dreams, and partially because my breathing was weird and my right side hurt. Though it wasn't unusual.
     I couldn't tell if Grey was asleep or not, but I....I didn't think I cared. "Hailey?" His voice was impossibly quiet as he called my name. "Yeah?" I asked, not expecting him to still be awake. "Nothing. Just seeing if you were awake." He replied.
     It was then that I decided I'd let him help me break the curse. Well, not really decided, more like realized my mind had already subconsciously made the decision. But it was just after that when my breath caught in my throat and I let out a small cough. It could be passed as a gasp, but I didn't think Grey was that gullible.
     "You okay?" He asked. "U-Uh, yeah." I said quickly. "Really? You sound like you're having trouble breathing." He said. There was a small rustle as he moved, followed by a sensation on my neck like someone was breathing on it, but didn't mean to. It was...a strange sensation; I couldn't help but blush at it.
     But I was determined not to let him see that I felt it. "W-Well, I might." I said, not wanting to tell him the whole truth. "Is that a yes?" Grey asked. "Maybe...." I said, feeling my heart flutter a bit. Wh-Why do I feel this way? My heart's beating faster, and...I'm blushing at something so simple as his breath on my skin. But I don't even fully trust him. I thought, confused and nervous at the same time.
     "Be honest. Are you okay?" Grey's voice was filled with concern, and I felt more confused than before at why my heart was fluttering like mad. "No.." I whispered, curling into a ball to try and prevent my breath from catching again as I felt my lungs tighten. "What's wrong?" He sat up, and placed a hand on my shoulder gently.
     "My lungs hurt, like someone's stabbing them." I said softly, hating how I sounded younger than 17 - and I was 17. "And my heart is fluttering, so fast that it hurts." I added under my breath. "Oh, gosh," Grey said, gently wrapping his arms around me.
     But there was something about the gesture...he seemed confused at why he was doing it himself. I didn't know why either, but I know that I immediately started involuntarily blushing. No one had ever held me like that before. It was...embarrassing as all hell, but somehow calming. Not at first, but after a minute or two.
     My heart was excitedly hammering against my ribs, like a caged animal trying to break free. I hoped he couldn't tell, but I noticed that his heart, deep in his chest, was also fluttering and skipping beats. And his breathing...was nearly frantic, but he was trying to calm it. My breath caught again, but my lungs had stopped hurting.
     "G-Grey?" I asked, feeling oddly calm, even though my breathing was still weird and my heart was still beating incredibly fast. "Yeah?" Grey replied, seeming a bit nervous. "..It doesn't hurt anymore, thanks." I said. "O-Oh," He started pulling away, but a fresh, sharper knife of pain sliced through me, forcing a yelp from my lips. "Hailey?" He seemed a bit scared. I turned over and hugged him, feeling the pain fade away.
     WHY DID I JUST DO THAT? AND WHY DOES IT ONLY HURT WHEN HE'S NOT HOLDING ME?!? I screamed in my head. Grey was shocked at first, I could tell, but he hugged me back after a second. "C-Can we stay like this every night?" I asked in a whisper. He sighed, and I felt his heart speed up even more. "I-If that means you're letting me break your curse...yes."
     Shortly, after a lot of awkward silence, being confused, yelling at myself in confusion, and getting my breathing back to normal, I slipped into sleep.
     I was expecting more nightmares about fully losing control over my curse, and watching myself kill everyone I loved. But it wasn't. It was a muddled memory.

     There were a few words that spun around and stuck in my head, spoken to me by...God, I couldn't remember her name for the life of me.
     "The curse of blessing. Its an old curse few know. It was probably put on you in an effort to help you find...something. Unfortunately, you'll experience breathing problems at night, and nightmares. But when you find a certain person, whoever it is, they will be able to let you regain control, will prevent your pain, and are the only person able to break the curse."
     And I knew instantly, even though it was a dream...the person who could relieve my pain...was Grey.

I really wanted to make a JubyPhonic ref, but I didn't. I still kinda feel like I rushed things a bit, but they were just acting by impulse, and magic. - 12/26/19

Haha! It's a fluff chapter! And, boy, I have so much more where that came from! Just you wait! - 1/1/20

Edited! - 09.22.2020

Later!
~Nevira