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Rebecca had been plagued by bad dreams for as long as she could remember. Growing up on the streets hadn’t exactly gifted her with the greatest childhood, of course. She had struggled to survive and were it not for the kindness of others, she might not have.
That was what she had always thought, of course. Now, she didn’t know which were bad dreams.
Master Noah had said she had subconsciously used Cat Leaper twenty-nine different times. Twenty-nine different times she should have died. When Master Noah first explained it to her, Rebecca hadn’t given herself much time to fully process what exactly that meant. There were too many other things happening for her to stop and consider the implications of what he told her.
After the battle was over, however, it was impossible to ignore. She laid in her bed on the ship and stared out the windows to the stars and wondered how many of her bad dreams were a different life she’d lost. The accident that killed Happy was one, that much she knew. Rebecca had suffered through so many bad dreams throughout her short life - it would be impossible to determine which ones were actual dreams and which ones weren’t. Master Noah could potentially have helped, if he had really been watching her all this time, but the thought of asking him felt ridiculous.
She was a big girl, she could handle a little uncertainty. But that first night after defeating Drakken Joe, Rebecca found herself unable to sleep. All she could seem to do was stare up at the ceiling and let her thoughts run rampant. Flashes of world twenty-nine kept playing in her mind, reminding her over and over again how powerless she was at times.
The next day, Rebecca managed to convince her friends that she had slept just fine. Hid the dark circles around her eyes with make-up and forced herself to smile and act like nothing had happened.
At night, however, she found herself troubled with questions about Cat Leaper - if this was world thirty, what happened to world twenty-nine? Or all the other worlds before it? Was her Ether Gear somehow creating alternate timelines with every jump? Was there still a world, then, without Shiki? The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth, and Rebecca knew that if she dared attempt, all she’d see was his demise repeated like a bad movie reel.
So she stayed awake. Busied herself with video games and caffeine. Pretending it didn’t happen was harder the next day, but she powered through. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to continue worrying about her any more than they already were. She’d baffled them enough with her questions about Mr. Connor. If they found out she wasn’t sleeping, they might get the wrong idea. Once or twice, she caught herself drifting off during a quiet lull here and there, but nothing quite like what she needed.
The third night, Rebecca couldn’t force herself to stay awake any longer. The sleep that came to her, however, was restless and anything but peaceful. She tossed and turned so much throughout the night that when the wake-up call sounded, she felt worse than she had the day before.
In the kitchen that morning, when Shiki got close enough to notice her bloodshot eyes and asked if she slept well, she told him she stayed up too late editing a video. He frowned, dark eyes watching her carefully for a second before she turned away first. Rebecca could feel his eyes continuing to watch her, expression plain as day as she tried to ignore him. If the others noticed anything, they chose not to question why he spent the entire meal staring at her or why she, in turn, refused to look in his direction.
After the meal, Rebecca found herself aimlessly wandering the ship. Three nights without a decent night of rest had done its toll, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to go on like this. She didn't want to try taking a bath in case she accidentally passed out, she couldn't focus well enough to play a video game, and she certainly didn’t want to risk spending time with her companions lest they notice she was struggling with something.
Bad dreams plagued her nighttime thoughts and rattled her dreams so harshly that sleep just didn’t seem possible anymore. Going without sleep for too long was dangerous, and it would only be a matter of time before everyone else started noticing. But what choice did she have?
As it was, she was fortunate that Sister Irvy was distracted with Kleene’s strange condition and hadn’t had time to give her a good look yet. Who knew how much longer that could go on. Shiki wasn’t well known for his subtleties, after all, and it was a wonder he hadn’t pushed the issue more at breakfast. For now, she would count herself fortunate and hope for the best this evening.
That was the plan, at any rate. However, just as she was shuffling her way through a corridor, something warm gently grabbed her hand. “Rebecca?”
She slowly turned, seeing Shiki next to her with a worried look on his face. “Hey, Shiki,” she said softly, rubbing at her eyes. “What’re you doing here?”
“You’re right outside my bedroom,” he replied, his frown deepening a little. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Rebecca mumbled, nodding. “I’ve never been better.” Even if she hadn’t been mildly sleep deprived, she knew her words would never have convinced him. For as dense as he was, her companion seemed to pick up on her every mood shift. He knew her well, even though they had only met a short while ago.
His hand still gripping hers, Shiki suddenly gave her arm a tug as he started moving. “Come on,” he said softly. Rebecca opened her mouth to ask where he was taking her, but the words didn’t want to form properly so all that came out was a sort of groan. It didn’t help her case any, and she knew it.
To her surprise, Shiki led her into his own personal bedroom, releasing her hand only briefly so he could dim the lights. “What’s happenin’?” Rebecca asked, rubbing her eyes again. He grabbed her hand again and pulled her along silently, stopping just by the bed.
“You look like you could use a nap,” he explained, gesturing towards it. Rebecca glanced down at the bed for a second before looking back at him, a slight blush coming to her face.
“Shiki, I’m fine,” she insisted, taking a step back. “Really. I’ve just been working on some videos.”
He crossed his arms against his chest. “Happy said you guys haven’t recorded any videos in a long time,” he told her. His voice was even, but the hurt was still there, permeating his words. Rebecca glanced away, reaching up to rub at her elbow. He must have been more worried than she realized to speak to Happy. “Rebecca, what’s wrong?”
When she looked up again, he had stepped closer. For a second, she debated on whether to continue insisting things were fine, but how could she ever hope to lie to him again? “I haven’t been sleeping well,” Rebecca admitted with a sigh. “I can’t stop thinking about all the other times I must have used Cat Leaper, how many other bad dreams got written off as a nightmare when they were actually times I should have died.” Her voice came out weaker than she would have liked, tears already settling in the corner of her eyes. “There’s so much I don’t know about these powers.”
Gently, Shiki reached up and placed his hands on her elbows. He said nothing, and after a second, she continued. “I’m afraid that if I sleep, I’ll just keep seeing all the bad things from world twenty-nine. And I…I would rather never sleep again than watch you die.”
Tears spilled from her eyes before she could stop them, and Shiki’s embrace wasn’t far behind. He held her gently, offering her the support she had been denying herself for days. “I’m right here,” he said after a moment, keeping his arms wrapped around her. “All your friends are right here, remember?”
“I remember.” Rebecca closed her eyes and let herself relax a little into his hug. This wasn’t like him, but she appreciated the gesture all the same. “I remember.”
He pulled away a little, signature grin already halfway across his face. “Good!” he told her. “See? No reason to keep crying.” Rebecca allowed herself a small smile, reaching up to wipe the few tears away from her cheeks. “Will you please take a nap now?”
“A nap sounds nice,” she admitted. He grinned a little wider, and fully released her so she could get into bed. Once she was settled, he offered her one more grin and turned to leave. “W-wait.”
Shiki stopped. Rebecca had pulled the covers up over her mouth and nose, and all that could be seen of her forehead was painted red. She couldn’t explain why, exactly, but…
“Will you stay with me?”
The words were soft, uncertain, and Rebecca almost retracted them. But something compelled her to ask, some great fear that if she was left on her own, the nightmares would simply return and his act of kindness would ultimately help nothing. If Shiki was here with her, then maybe things would be better.
Totally, definitely, absolutely not because she liked it when he comforted her.
For a few seconds, he simply stood a few feet away as if he was trying to understand what she meant. Then, finally, a soft smile took the place of his confused frown and he moved to join her. Staying above the covers, he laid down next to her on his side, watching her carefully. “I’ll be right here, so you can rest easy,” he said softly. Rebecca closed her eyes, nodding once. For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep, half nestled in her friends arms as he watched over her, ready to fight back any bad dreams that dared to interrupt her.
It was the best nap Rebecca had ever taken.