Okay, so last night I was watching some show on dreaming. Well… Dreams... Cresselia x Darkrai… Yes? Of course xD.

I don't own Pokemon, or the lyrics in the summary, which belong to the Everly Brothers (I think, unless they did a cover).

Dream

"whenever i want you all i have to do is dream."

"Damn him."

The lunar swan mumbled as she stared out the mouth of her den, glaring vehemently at the violent storm that was brewing outside. Winds whipped up at the pine trees of her forest, forcing their branches to sway like a puppet under the savage weather's hands. Briefly, she caught sight of three small Bidoof, running for cover underneath a large wiry bush. Somewhere in the distance, thunder streaked across the sky, and not long afterward a large, quaking boom of thunder shook her little cave. The Legendary's red eyes rolled in their sockets when she turned to hover back to her cozy little nest, where it was warmer and not quite as wet.

Of course, it wasn't very warm at all, she realized as she lowered her wings along her back, and the whirring dulled to a quiet hum. Her golden belly touched the matching soft, fine sand beneath her, and her wings quelled themselves all together, ceasing her hovering. In fact, the weather had even raked its frigid fingers along the warmer, compact surface of the cave's walls, which like bone, seemed to trap the icy temperature within them and radiate it. Forcing her spine to be still, Cresselia glanced toward the narrow mouth of the den, where the water was fleeting across the opening like pictures on a reel, moving at a rapid pace.

Lids drooped tiredly over her ruby eyes, drawing a faint sigh from her beak. It had nearly been three days since she'd last slept, and for good reason. After a week of consecutive nightmares, Cresselia's more paranoid side had begun to suspect Darkrai was paying her back for her little visit to the little island not far from hers, where he dwelt. It had happened a little over a week prior, when the ghastly Legendary had returned from whatever place he'd managed to run off to, leaving her alone with her duty of forcing dreams upon people.

He had just disappeared one day – he'd left, without mentioning anything to her. She and Darkrai hardly had a relationship that could be considered a friendship, but still, it was unlike him to mention leaving for such a period of time. She knew that she and him were destined to fight, after all, all the paired Legendaries did. And yet, she'd tried so hard to prevent such a thing – she'd forced patience upon herself, and she extended a rarely used branch of understanding to the dark Pokemon, and yet still, he seemed to break what little trust she had left in him.

But she had readily been willing to forgive him.

She had even ventured off to Newmoon Island as soon as she'd heard word that he was back; ready to chastise him for leaving without notice, but nothing more. When she had arrived and found the battered and bruised Darkrai, however, her patience had snapped completely, and fuelled by anger and worry, she'd lashed out at him. She was usually very calm, less likely to be controlled by emotions – and yet she'd let that thin mask slip. She hadn't even allowed him to explain himself. Darkrai had never been good with words – when he did speak, he spoke very little, and anything worth listening was a rare creature. Darkrai, typical to his nature, was quick to insult and less likely to explain himself. He would just assume spit insults her way that keep a level conversation. She had developed her own insults, however, and although their relationship to outside eyes seemed violent, they were comfortable with it.

However, he had proverbially broken the Camerupt's back. She'd lashed out, hell-bent on relieving his shoulders of his head. The fight had been a quick one, violent like a hurricane, and gone in a flash. It wasn't until she had left that she had come to understand that Darkrai had gone off to settle a spat between Dialga and Palkia in some far away town, where the poor humans would die if he hadn't. Disgust had reared its ugly face in her chest, and anger was bred toward Darkrai. Their meetings had completely dissolved after the fight, and yet somehow, the phantom still had the gall to force nightmares upon her, whenever she slept.

With a sigh, the swan curled into a small ball, eyes keeping track of the actions outside. And yet, absence does make the heart grow fonder. She growled at the stray thought, but made no attempt to deny herself of its truth. While anger boiled under her skin, in her very veins and in every fiber of her being, there was a lost, alien pang in her chest. Longing, she realized with a small start. She did miss Darkrai, she had to admit that to herself – she missed him a lot but there was no way she was going to bother to make things right. Perhaps, if he had told her he was leaving, she wouldn't have minded so much. Although him returning, battered and bruised and bloody would have sparked her rage any time. The rage merely concealed her hurt and worry for him, and instinctively, it wouldn't die down. Cresselia was not prone to weakness, and such worry and pain was a weakness to anyone who saw it, including Darkrai. And yet, she still sighed as she finally lowered her eloquent head to the floor of the cave, and let her lids droop over glittering red eyes. Someday, she promised herself, she would go make things right.

---

It was not his fault.

There were a lot of things that she could not pin on him; she could not pin him for needing to stop Palkia and Dialga. It was not his fault that he was the only one outside of Arceus and Giratina who possibly could. And even so, he had slunk home, proverbial tail between his legs, battered and bruised as it was. It was not long, however, before he'd noticed the particularly homicidal looking gleam in the swan's red eyes, and had known he was in for another good beating, as well.

Everything seemed to be pinned on him; because he brought nightmares, because he was a phantom, because he was the Prince of Darkness, born from the shadows. It was a rare occurrence when someone bothered to try to understand him, try to help him, or even bother to realize that not everything was his fault. But he was not one for self-pity, and he had learned to deal with the accusations from the humans, and some even from the Legendaries themselves. He cherished those who at least tried to accept him – which was yet another reason he had to save that little town. Out of the three or so entities that bothered to look past his flaws, the good majority of them were in that town, subject to Palkia and Dialga's little love spat. The phantom merely closed his eyes and allowed the rain to pelt against him, ignoring the brief sparks of pain that the water ignited when it hit a sore spot on his shoulders.

The white wisp of hair atop his head whipped violently in the storm's savage winds, tugging his head whichever way the weather decided it wanted to take it. Aggravated in the least, Darkrai lifted his lids and raised his head, shielding his sea-colored eyes from the storm long enough to permit him a brief look at the sky. Thunder boomed heavily, as lightning struck a tree on his island, but he didn't mind. The water would set it out soon enough, and if it didn't, then the Pokemon that took up residence at the island would. Without further thought to the situation, or the newly forming hail, Darkrai floated his ragged, rakish form into the mouth of Cresselia's cave.

Simultaneously, the phantom's face contorted with pain as the sleeping swan's face twitched, and from behind her closed lids, he could see her eyes moving rapidly to the nightmare she was having. Beside her, her wings twitched and gathered powder, like that of a moth's, but remained still and flightless, succumbing to the brain's need to keep the body still.

He knew he was breaking the thin veil of trust – or rather the meager respect they seemed to harvest for one another – with the visit. But it hadn't stopped him previously, and it wouldn't stop him now. The swan was locked in a dream, the REM state took over her mind. He knew she wouldn't wake up at his visit, and even if she did, it was no feat to sink into the shadows of the cave to conceal him from what wrath might develop within the swan. The lunar Legendary's small beak cracked, as if to say something, but soon shut as the phantom sat beside her and leaned against the wall of the cave. The only time Cresselia seemed to be sane around him was when she was sleeping, and even then he was forced to torment her with nightmares at his presence. He didn't want to, but it was his curse, and he was burdened with it. He knew very well that his actions would only make the swan angrier with him, as he had begun to notice her lack of sleep as of recent. Now, he knew she would much rather lash out at him with the razor sharp edges of those beaming, elegant wings than speak with him. Cresselia was stereotypically the calmest, gentlest of the two, and for the most part, it was very true. Cresselia was level-headed, and understanding. She had been willing to set aside his differences, and she had accepted him as well as she could. And yet, like a dual edged sword, Cresselia was often more violent than he was. Nobody had ever acknowledged that side of her, because that side was mostly reserved for him. He hadn't been able to conceive the reason she became so bloodthirsty when she was around him, but he'd never bothered to think about it for extended periods of time, either.

Beside him, the pale pink and blue swan twitched again in her sleep, eyes raging from beneath her lids. A small sigh escaped the phantom, and he rested a torn, tattered black claw against the pale purple spot before her crescent head décor.

"Dark.. rai?"

Urgency sprung within the aforementioned phantom's chest as he prepared himself to sink into the wall. However, the swan's eyes remained shut, instinctively he knew her brain was still sleeping. He had grown to know the brain's functions while dreaming like the back of his hand, and he knew very well that she only had a few minutes left of the deep sleep. If he lingered too long, he risked the possibility of her slipping into a lucid dreaming state, where she became aware of her surroundings. In that phase, Darkrai was powerless over her dreams, whether he wanted to be or not, and it was then that Cresselia would wake up. Still, the deadpan phantom couldn't help but ponder if she was just beginning to grace the state – or if she was aware that it was him, no matter how accidental, that was giving her the horrific dream.

The dark Pokemon lowered his head into the ruby armor on his shoulders, and gave the pink spot on Cresselia's head one last pat before he got up and floated toward the mouth of the cave, where the hail was creating small pockmarks on the soft soil, and the trees around her forest were whipping ferociously in the wind. Immediately, Darkrai's effect over Cresselia slowly began to ebb with the distance he put between himself and the sleeping Legendary. As soon as he'd reached the mouth of the cave, the nightmare had immediately been alleviated. Solemnly, he turned his head and watched the sleeping swan through the wispy fringes of his shoulder. Allowing the faintest of smiles to crack is apathetic face, he turned toward the onslaught outside.

"Sleep well, Cresselia."

Pff, Darkrai is such a hopeless romantic at heart. –giggles- It's a little weird, but it's my first Pokemon fic… So you know, I've come to expect a little weirdness. I got the idea at like three in the morning, so… Of course it's going to be crazy. Hell, I almost wrote it at four… But I figured it wouldn't make much more sense if I did. xD