[Sometimes I have a dream. Recurring, but different every time.]
The train chugged along, the sounds of its engine and wheels a comforting din from below. Yuki had a small light on overhead, leaving her awash in a warm golden light in an area that would not disturb Yuri's rest in the bed opposite her. The last sleepover before she would be on her own or sharing Mirai's bed.
The latter thought made her shudder, a chill across her body. Even while she would be growing older, the idea of their age gap and being married to him while not even a teenager was not a fun feeling. She much preferred the thought of him and Yuri together, the real light and dark, the real snow and sun. Shaking her head, she put her pen back to paper.
[In these dreams, I always end up dead. It doesn't matter how happy or unhappy the dream is, if it's a good dream or not. I never know it's a nightmare until I die and wake up all sweaty.]
Like now. Yuki's nightgown was clinging to her in a tangled up mess around her legs and body, her hair still sticking to her skin across her face. Every time she had a dream like this, she always wanted to write it down, no matter how her hands shook or her body ached from an experience she felt was all too real.
[I dunno if the dreams mean anything, like premonitions. There's no way! Otherwise they'd be the same, but I don't even die the same in them. None of them are the same, and this one was just as different. I've never been where it's so cold I could freeze to death… I'll have to bundle up a lot in my new home.]
She glanced over to Yuri, asleep peacefully in spite of how twitchy he was while the shades were up and the landscape was vastly changing.
[For Yuri's sake, too. I don't want him to be alone again.]
There. Yuki closed her dream journal and slid off her bed to her small bag where she'd pulled it from. She slipped it right back into its pocket with the pen and tied up the bag itself. She grabbed a cardigan from the edge of her bed, laid there as an afterthought before sleep, and slid on some slippers. Silent steps carried her to the compartment door, and she was thankful for how quiet it was when she opened it. Quickly, she slipped through and closed it, fumbling with the handle in the darkness. "I'll be back soon," she mumbled as she finally hitched it closed but unlocked. "Stay asleep, okay?"
She just wanted some fresh air, and night air was the best kind in this sense. Turning, Yuki scuttled to the next compartment over, knowing that it was empty as the new Princess of Isklan deserved her privacy. Once again it was a pain to try and fumble open, and when she did she found that it was locked even while the door was unhitched. "Wh-" Yuki furrowed her brows, looking side to side down the dimly lit car's hallway.
"Who locks an empty-" Annoyed and high strung from her dream still, Yuki slapped the door with her open hand. "Man! I just want some air!" She was basically whisper-yelling at this point, frustrated and tired and freaked out. It didn't help that one of her dreams had been something like this, trapped in a train's corridor, and metal spikes burst in from the walls of the train, slicing her to ribbons. When she'd woken from that dream she had been clawing at her arms and back so viciously she had been bleeding, torn to ribbons by her own fingers. Thus, Yuki never kept her nails long.
"I asked for privacy, not to be locked out of another room! It's empty, I don't wanna bother Yuri!" She rattled the handles again and huffed when they did not give way. Planting her hands on her hips as she stomped, she glared at the door. Of course, it would not submit to just her gaze, and finally she sighed in defeat. "I guess I'll try another one…"
Just as she turned to go, the door clicked and slid open. Shocked, Yuki stumbled back, hitting the window side of the wall behind her. "Ah-!" Looking up at the silhouette, she saw a small lamp light up beside it, and Mirai's sleepily amused face greeted her from the shadows. Yuki blinked, hunched her shoulders, and then straightened. She attempted to put on her best annoyed face and not be embarrassed, but that was hard to do when she was just a kid around her very-adult husband.
"Why was--" Well, duh, the doors were locked because Mirai, the Prince of Isklan, was in there. She shut her mouth, watching Mirai rub a hand over his face as he yawned.
"Yes, Princess?" he chimed, tilting his head as he watched her from over his fingers.
"Why- are you in there? I thought the rooms on either side of me and Yuri were empty!" Yuki let indignation coat her words, to hide her embarrassment. Oh no, if she had kept beating on the door, would she have accidentally smacked him? Or… well, his chest, anyway. Still, that could be a treasonous act, or even an insult to cause war, regardless of marital standing.
Poor Yuki's mind was frayed and spiraling, her cheeks growing warm as her heart rate never seemed to slow. She was keenly aware of Mirai's eyes on her, taking in her appearance before he offered her his hand.
"Darling," he said softly, and all teasing had left his voice. "You did invite me to a sleepover… but the door was locked and I was not about to break in on a peaceful rest for the terrified brother of yours." He smiled reassuringly, warmly, accented by the light flickering beside his handsome features. "So… I took residence beside yours, as it was the next best thing in terms of safety."
Yuki looked down at Mirai's offered hand, and then back up to him. Back to his hand. Back to him. "I… I should get back-"
His fingers twitched. "It's okay to be scared," he said, almost unheard as the train picked up speed to prepare for a small incline into a mountain range. Yuki had studied the route as soon as she had been told it was a train and oh how she wished it was the day time so she could see the mountains… and not be scared by her dreams.
"I'm not scared," she said, unconvincing, but reached out to take Mirai's hand anyway. "I just needed fresh air… and Yuri's asleep."
"Mhmm," Mirai nodded. "Forgive my assumption, then." Lifting her sunkissed hand, Mirai placed his lips against it and rubbed his thumb along her pulse point comfortingly. Yuki hated how it relaxed her, but liked it at the same time. "Come inside and get your air for a little bit. I'll keep you safe."
[At least no one else has ever died in my dreams before, so maybe that's a good sign.]
Yuki remembered this last line she wrote and hoped, as the door closed behind her, that Mirai could keep that promise.