The knight is a dragon and the princess really hates shoes in this one // private with my Bro

The dream started the same as it always did. The day the knights from the palace had shown up, Ali and Elijah had gone flying, returning to the cave damp from the sudden rainshower that had started. The only time Ali was ever confident enough to use her fire was when she was with her dragon, and with that fire, it was pretty easy to dry off. Everything was fine. Happy and free, with the one creature who'd ever really gotten her.

And then the nightmare started. The knights arrived, as usual, bursting into the cave with shouts akin to battle cries that were entirely unnecessary, and Ali was grabbed before she could really say anything, no matter how hard she tried. But then it shifted. Something was wrong. They had Elijah now, had him pinned down with chains that were too strong to be anything but enchanted, and her screams went ignored–ignored as red stained the floor of the cave, the cave she had begun to call home, the blood of her beloved dragon, and she couldn't move, couldn't do anything as she was dragged away, heating up rapidly like normal-

Ali, in the world of the awake, thrashed slightly. A sob ripped free from her throat, the sound strangled and half a muffled shout of 'no!'. Still dreaming, still feeling the terror as though what she was seeing was real. Elijah's voice barely reached her the first time, but the second time managed to cut through her mind, into her dream. "Ali". It took her a bit, to realize the dream was that. A dream. Another sob slipped free, followed by more as she squeezed her eyes shut tighter. "I'm-sorry. I tried-I'm so sorry."

Slowly, her body temperature lowered, back to it's normal warmth, as she sobbed. "Don't-don't go, please." Ali begged, unwilling to open her eyes. She was terrified. Terrified that if she opened her eyes, all she would see was blood, Elijah bleeding in front of her, unable to help or do anything. "Be okay. Be real. Be real." She repeated the words like a mantra, shaking.

She wasted no time in burying herself in his arms, though she did take some time opening her eyes. She didn’t want to see him bleeding, even if the rational part of her brain told her there was no way he would be. Eventually though, she pulled away enough to look at him. Her eyes opened slowly, small choked back sobs still jolting her as her puffy gold and red eyes met his. “You’re okay. They didn’t-you’re here.”

Ali looked him over longer than maybe necessary, needing to know over and over that he was okay. Then she pressed her forehead to his, breathing deeply. “Okay. Okay.” She pressed her hands to his skin, one over his heart and the other just at his pulse, feeling the beat. Alive. Alive. Alive. Alive. “I’m sorry. I thought-I thought they would stop. And in the dream-they…they had-“ She couldn’t make herself keep going, choking on her own words.

“We’re okay.” Ali repeated, her voice so soft and hoarse from crying, a raspy and barely there sound. He was safe. He was right here. He had come back to her, and he wasn’t going to leave. The didn’t kill him that day. “Don’t leave, please. I promise I won’t let them take you away.” Maybe she was talking to him, maybe to herself about him. She wasn’t quite sure.

He was right. Feeling, touch, contact. They were all things she was best at, even if she didn’t partake in them as much as someone should. They made things real for her. Grounded her to reality, tying her feet down when she needed them there. “Thank you. I’m sorry. For disturbing you. I should have been more quiet.”

“My nightmare is what disturbed you.” She said softly, looking down to avoid his gaze, hands still feeling his heartbeat. “And I hate that. You should be sleeping. Not dealing with me.” Sighing softly, she nuzzled his nose lightly with her own, like another apology.

She choked back another sob, this one more guilty relief than anything. There were no more tears now. Just the tracks they’d left down her cheeks and the puffiness to her eyes, signs of crying but no more actual crying. That was good. “Okay. I-Okay.”

Ali finally moved her hands then, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face to his chest, With each deep breath, she was greeted by his familiar and comforting scent, soothing the still-fast pace of her heart from the nightmare. "I know. I won't let anything pull us apart again."

"I slept better for a little bit." Ali said softly. She knew him too well, knew what he was thinking more often than not. "I don't think the nightmares are gonna go away immediately. But they usually show up right after I fall asleep." She lifted her head to nuzzle the side of his, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

She had been so touch-starved since she'd returned to the palace. Suddenly having Elijah back, someone who was fully willing to give her that contact she needed…it was almost like a too-good-to-be-true dream. Now, she just had to keep this one from becoming a nightmare like her others. "Thanks, Ellie. Thank you."

The trade off of nicknames had a smile pulling at her lips, the familiarity something great. Over and over again, she said she had missed him, and it really was true. But it was incredible to have him back. A miracle, maybe. "Can we stay like this forever? Just us, away from the rest of the world?"

A shudder ran through her, but she managed not to squirm this time, biting her lip to stifle a noise. "I can't-say I disapprove of that. Pretending-pretending sounds like a great idea." She smiled down at him, his smile bringing a certain brightness to her own as she played idly with his hair.

"Yeah." She whispered back, gold eyes soft and warm and happy. She continued to play with his hair, absolutely happy to lay atop him. Shivering slightly at the touch, she leaned down a bit more, bumping his nose with her own. "We can pretend nobody else exists. It's just us, in this room. The only people left. With all the time in the world."