Flight

---

muffled cries resounded in her ears,
leading her to abruptly sit up in bed.

her hand found its way to her temple,
as she tried to bring herself back to reality.

she was no longer in that asylum,
she was no longer in the judge's house,
she was no longer in Mr Todd's parlor...

she was safe.
she was home.
she was with Antony.

with that, she looked to the body beside her,
startled to see that he was the source of the cries.

for a minute she just sat there,
a stunned silence upon her.

she had been so sure that it had all been in her head,
as night terrors weren't an uncommon occurrence for her.

but for once, the distant calls for help she was often tormented by weren't false in the slightest,
and in fact were coming from the person who'd often reassure her of her own safety.

realizing that her inaction was doing nothing to help,
she tentatively reached out her hand, as to touch the shaking man.

"Antony?"
she whispered, nudging him.

he let out a murmur of fear, rolling over.
to which Johanna responded by shaking him with more force.

"Antony...wake up!"

raising her voice,
and putting more force into her movement,
she tried to bring him back to his senses.

"Antony? Antony, can you hear me?"
she called out, with a hint of desperation.

She shook him,
this time with increased violence,
as scenarios of him ceasing to wake plagued her brain, sending her into a fearful frenzy.

and with a jolt,
his eyes shot open,
a gasp escaping his lips.

"Antony!"
she exclaimed, completely out of breath,
as she backed away from him.

he shakily sat up, giving Johanna a weak nod of thanks.

"I'm...I'm really sorry about that."
he said ever so softly.

"I-I get nightmares too- maybe, maybe not as frequently as you...and definitely not the same as yours...but...I didn't mean to scare you...I..."

he went on and on,
clearly embarrassed,
and overly apologetic,
as he did not wish to seem weak to Johanna,
for he wanted her to feel safe and protected with him, and he knew for a fact that laying beside a quivering protector must've been nothing but unsettling.

there was shame in his eyes as he tried to dismiss what had just occurred.

slowly moving closer,
Johanna brought her hand to his,
taking his in her own.

shushing him, she moved in closer,
to which he leaned in so their noses were pressed against one another.

the two simply sat like that,
as the feeling of her breath against his skin gave Antony a sense of peace.

"I'm here."
she whispered,
borrowing a line that he often used to bring her back to reality.

he sighed at that,
opening his eyes as to gaze back at her own.

"kiss me?"
she asked, her voice barely audible.

he nodded, leading their noses to bump against each other, to which they both smiled.

leaning in, she placed a gentle, chaste kiss against antony's lips.

it was nothing provocative,
no fiery passion,
but simply a reminder that she cared a whole awful lot, and that she thought no less of him after witnessing him in a weak moment.

after she slowly pulled away, Antony could not wipe the tender smile that remained stuck to his face.

Johanna brought her hand to his cheek, cupping his face in her hand as she placed a second kiss to his forehead.

leading him back downward, so they could lay back down, she opened her arms to him.

he found himself curled up against her,
resting his head on her chest as she held him.

though it was often the other way around,
with Antony holding her,
Johanna was happy to give Antony the same comfort he so often bestowed upon her.

she ran her fingers through his hair,
placing a final kiss on his forehead.

as he snuggled closer to her,
he sighed once again, but this time against the warmth of his partner.

"thank you."