Nightmare

Jade and Dist, non-slash, young

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A shrill scream filled the snowy, silent, night air.

Jade tried to pay it no mind, burring his face further into his pillow, he had put up with the painful moans and creaking mattress all night, he couldn't take it anymore, it was haunting. This had been going on for nights on end, with every fresh snowfall. Saphir would have dreams, terrible ones that kept him turning and tossing all night, shouting and whining in terror at some unknown source. It had been a month now… ever since the professor's death…. It had been snowing that day too.

The noises paused, they always did when he woke up when his own shouting finally woke the boy up, things would be quiet until he fell back asleep and the cycle began again. His bunk and the boy's were right next to each other's in the orphanage, if no one else heard him he certainly would. Oddly the steady breathing of his sleep didn't come as it always did before the dreams returned. Instead he felt a tug on the edge of his blanket.

"Jade… are you awake?"

Don't turn over, he told himself, don't look, pretend you're asleep. The pulling didn't stop. "Jaaaaaaaaade."

He sighed heavily, would he ever get some sleep? "Saphir, it's the middle of the night." Rolling over, he caught sight of the pathetic husk of a boy before him.

The ivory haired child was in a state of complete disarray, his hair sticking out in all directions and stiff from the cold sweat of horror. His pale peach colored pajamas, in ragged wrinkles, hung from the buttons that had been overworked from all of his turning and barely holding together. His face wasn't much better, eyes red and puffy, tear stains dark in his cheeks and his runny nose was highlighted by his constant sniffing. It was a horrible image, but Saphir wasn't much to look at in the first place.

"I… I can't sleep…" he whined in a hoarse voice.

"I think that's more then obvious. What do you expect me to do about it?"

The boy hesitated for a moment, "…Can… I sleep with you?"

Groaning he sat up on his elbow. "Can't you sleep with Nephry or someone else more tolerant of you?"

"Nooooooo!" he whined again, bouncing on the floor.

"Why in the name of Lorelei not?"

"No one else can protect me, she might come back…"

He glanced at his pathetic face again… it was his mistake that made this fear…

With heavy, frustrated sigh he lifted the sheets, "Get in…"

That made him brighten a bit. "R-really Jade?"

"Did I stutter? Now come on, I need a decent night's sleep for once."

The boy nodded, scuttling under the covers quickly, when Jade spoke, he listened, and there was a good chance if he didn't act quickly the offer would expire. Curled up beside his friend, his only friend, he seemed at peace with him next to him, protected, it wasn't long before he fell right back to sleep. For the first time that night his breath was soft, no screaming, no tossing., it was a relief. As Jade watched him sleep, it was odd… seeing him so calm for once. He reached out a hand to stroke some of the scruffy hair out of his face, finding a smile on his own. He was almost… cute, like this, then again he wasn't talking for once, that was probably the reason. Staring at the soft features of his companion he slowly found sleep himself, Saphir at his side.

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I utterly love writing from Jade's point off view, especially as a kid because his comments aren't softened by sarcasm yet. No this is in no way sexual for the pervs, they're 9!