aurora rising one shots, volume one.

Nightmares

Word count:
899 words

Angsty fluff

Starring:
Aurora 'Auri' Jie Lin Gilwraeth (33)
Callie (Cal) Gilwraeth (3)
Laleth (Lulu) Gilwraeth (3)

~~~
The girl with mismatched eyes POV

"Kal, KAL?!" I shout, sitting bolt upright from a nightmare.
I look around the room, and the empty space next to me.

It all comes rushing back to me.
He's dead.
Killed by a Unbroken missile on an aid mission for Project Syldra.

"Kal..." I sob. "God, I miss you so much."
I lost him a year ago, but I wasn't the only one who suffered. Callie and Laleth, our daughters, would have to live their lives without Kal.

Without their father.

"Mommy?" I hear a small voice call from the doorway.

"Come in." I say, wiping my eyes, trying to make sure that she didn't see me crying.

Callie crawls into my bed, and hugs me.
"Mommy, I had a nightmare." She says, her small body shaking.

"Ssh, it'll be okay. It's not real, Cal. I have them too." I say, stroking her midnight dark hair, her pointed ears brushing my fingertips.

"C-can you tell me a story about daddy?" She asks me, her violet eyes looking up at me.

"Sure, baby. Is Lulu awake?"

"Yes, Mommy. Do you want me to go get her?"

I nod my head, and watch as my daughter goes to get her sister.
How did I get so lucky?

Callie returns with a bleary-eyed Laleth, her violet and white eyes blinking rapidly in the dark.

She has silver hair, just like her father, and pale skin, like me, while Callie is all dark. Dark olive skin, deep violet eyes and long, ink stained hair.

The only thing that made them look like sisters were the high cheekbones and the pointed ears.

Light and dark, just like me and Kal.

"Mommy?" Lulu says.

"Hey baby. Do you wanna hear some stories about daddy?" I ask them, and they crawl into bed with me.

There's a chorus of yes please, and I start with one of my favourite memories of us.

When he proposed.

~~~

We were on a date, on Meridae III. We had just bought ice cream, and we were strolling through an massive underground aquarium.

He turns to face me, and gets down in one knee.
"Aurora, three years ago I told you how I felt about you. We have been through hell and back, and I was wishing with all my heart, that will you, Aurora Jie Lin O'Malley, marry me?"

He produces a gold and glittering rainbow crystal ring from his pocket, and before he can slip it onto my finger, I tackle him to the ground in a kiss, laughing.

"Yes!" I scream "Yesyesyesyesyes!"

~~~

"Eeeeeewwwwww, you and Daddy were boyfriend and girlfriend?!" Callie says, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, yes." I say, and ruffle her hair.

"Yuck." Laleth says, poking her tongue out.

I chuckle, and begin to launch into another story when Lulu stops me.

"What was Daddy like?" She asks me.

She doesn't remember him anymore.
Oh god...

"Well." I say, choking back a sob "When I first me him, Daddy was very angry. He fought people a lot. He was cold, too."

"Cold? When Daddy comes home, I'll give him my jumper! The sparkly pink one!" Callie says, bouncing on the bed.

I smile. "No, Cal, it means that Daddy didn't show any emotion."

"E-mo-shun." Lulu sounds out.

"He wasn't very happy, Lulu. He was a sad man. He had done things that made him that way. That made him think that no one would love him." I explain to her.

"But you love him, don't you?" Callie says.

"Of course I do. I won't stop loving him." I say, and a single tear rolls down my cheek.

"Can you tell us some more stories?" Lulu asks me.

~~~

We were standing in the sunlight, in the shade of purple-leaves hanging over our heads in the Echo.

Kal was standing behind me, guiding my arms as I punch.

"Very good, Be'shmai. Just move your head a little..." He cups my face so I look at him, and he leans done to kiss me. "...there."

I giggle, and turn back around so he can continue to help me.

This was the sweet Kal, the one who was happy, and loved me openly. Not the sad Kal that I had grown so used to.

I liked sweet Kal.

And so, in the shade of purple leaves we stayed, happy and free, oblivious to what happened around us.

~~~

"Mommy, will we ever be able to go outside?" Lulu asks.

"Maybe one day..." I say.

"But Ty and Cat and Chase are able to go outside!" She cries, her face scrunched up.

Ty and Cat are Scar and Fins kids, and Chase was the kid that Zila and her girlfriend, Olivia, had adopted.

"I know, but they're not like you and me. If we go outside, people will hurt us. Hurt you."

"But Mommy-"

"NO!" I shout. "I AM NOT LOSING ANY MORE PEOPLE THAT I LOVE!"

I sob, remembering Cats badassery, Ty's ability to lead us all, and my sweet, sad Kal.

"I've already lost so many people, I don't want to lose you guys too." I say, hugging my daughters close.

We all fall asleep like that, hugging my children close, telling them stories about their dead father.