Dream sweet

In her dream, she is young again. The years of sorrow, the years of pain linger far in the future, unknown and undreamt. Now she is happy...fearful too, and awkward, but beneath her fingers she feels the strands of auburn bound tightly into his braid. How many times has she released it from its confines, her trembling fingertips caressing his neck as she slips into his lap?

With his hair unbound and his fingers ungloved, he is a different creature, he is hers, fragile and fierce in a way no other could know. You set me afire. The whisper touches her ear, and heat spreads, those huge calloused hands tender over her delicate flesh. His is scarred, that deep vicious wound on his chest ..her initial upon it for she shows all that he is not heartless, the countless other testaments of war written upon his body. Each one she adores with her lips, with her fingers.

There might have been ten or a thousand scars, but it does not matter. Time is theirs, sorrows forgotten for bliss. The strange earthy scent of him fills her mind, and she meets those deep blue eyes. Slowly, with lips parted, she leans in, her body trembling with need to feel his mouth on hers, each agonizing second thrumming through her. Almost there, so close she can feel his breath, the heath from his mouth until finally....

Icy water engulfs her face, the chill reverberating through her body. Parted lips struggle against it to find his mouth, but there is only cold, only water, and it tears at her bare skin. It strangles her scream of his name, viciously sucking her beneath the surface. Each breath is agony, water filling her lungs, but she cannot stop screaming into the water-blurred world, fingers clawing to free herself.

Trust me...

The words reach her through the panic, and she begins to sink, limbs limp, her mind begging for those words again.

Trust me...

If she just breathes the water, she will make it to the other side. She will be with him. Staring through the blur, she forces herself to draw in the water, lungs burning. Agony is nothing compared to such peace.



Gasping for breath, she woke with her body straining upward against the blankets, the promise of peace foremost in her mind. But there was only darkness around her empty bed. Alone, far from the eyes of her children, Garnett whimpered as she clutched at her pillows, disappointed to find herself still breathing. Only a bit longer. Trust me...