"I had a bad dream last night," she whispered.

Her companion looked up from where he was busy piling sand in the vague shape of a pyramid. His brow furrowed, concerned.

"Why didn't you come and get me?" he asked.

She hugged her knees with her little hands, looking down at the sand. She rocked back and forth slightly. Her eyes wouldn't meet his. He frowned, and tried to reach towards her, but was just barely too far away.

"Because I dreamed that you were gone," she said, finally. "That you were going away in the dark and I couldn't catch up. And then I couldn't see you. I was scared that if...that if I went to find you, it would be real."

"Oh," he said quietly.

They sat silently in the sand for a second longer.

"I promise," he whispered.

"What?" she said.

"I promise that I won't go away. I promise that I'll stay right here."

She blinked at him from between her knees, as though unsure of whether he was telling the truth. He nodded firmly, determined.

"I'll stay right here with you, okay?" he said. "But...but that means you have to stay, too. You can't go away either."

A blush grew across his cheeks, and he ducked his head.

"So...what I'm saying is...let's stay together. Forever. Is...is that okay?"

She lifted her head now. Her eyes were shining with the hint of tears, but she rubbed them away with the back of her hand.

"It's a promise," she whispered, reaching out a hand.

His uncertainly melted away, and he reached to take her outstretched hands. Their tiny fingers entwined together, holding hands across the distance of the small pyramids they had been building.

"It's a promise," he agreed, and their hands squeezed together all the tighter, as the desert sun set in between them.

But was that just a dream, or is this the dream I'm living now?

A/N: Welcome to my new Vaseshipping fanfiction! This story takes some heavy influence from Kanon, but it is not a crossover, and it does not require you to have seen Kanon in order to enjoy this story. (Although, I recommend seeing Kanon anyway. It's a good show; it'll make you cry, though). Each chapter will have a flower in its title that means something in the language of flowers; I'll tell you what the meaning is at the end of each chapter. :) The meaning of a rose in full bloom is I still love you. Without further ado, please enjoy When the Lotus Blooms.